Public Prosecutor v Ng Boon Teck

• Jurisdiction: Singapore
• Judge: Gilbert Low Teik Seang
• Judgment Date: 02 July 2004
• Neutral Citation: [2004] SGMC 6
• Court: Magistrates' Court (Singapore)
• Published date: 07 July 2004
• Year: 2004
• Plaintiff Counsel: Station Inspector Wee Kim Cheock
• Defendant Counsel: Accused acting in person
• Citation: [2004] SGMC 6

2 July 2004

Magistrate Gilbert Low:

1 The accused, acting in person, pleaded guilty before me at first mention to the following charge:

You … are charged that you, on the 23^rd day of February 2003, at or about 4.45 pm, at along Ayer Rajah Expressway towards City near to Alexandra Road exit, Singapore, did voluntarily cause hurt to one Tan Pang Meng Vincent, male 28 years of age, to wit, by punching him on his stomach, face, shoulder and arm with your right hand, you have thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 323 of the Penal Code, Chapter 224.

2 At the time when the plea of guilt of the accused was entered, I had ensured that he understood the nature and consequences of his plea of guilt. The Statement of Facts that the accused admitted to without any qualification read as:

The victim cum complainant is Mr Tan Pang Meng Vincent, male Chinese 29 Years of age, NRIC S7501635-B.

2 The witness is Ng Chai Hong, female Chinese, 29 years of age, NRIC No: S7443913-F. She is also the wife of the complainant.

3 The defendant is Ng Boon Teck, male Chinese, 32 years of age, NRIC: S7100056-G.

4 On 23.02.2003 at about 5.15 pm, an unknown male caller called ‘999’ to informed(sic) that “Two drivers fighting. I think due to accident’.

5 Investigation revealed that on the 23.02.2003 at about 4.45 p.m., at along AYE towards City near Alexandra Road exit, the victim was assaulted by the defendant over a minor road traffic accident involving the victim’s company van, GR3576H and the defendant’s car, SDL2153T. The defendant had pulled the victim to his car and pointed to a dent at the left rear portion of his car and said to the victim ‘you see you see look at my car’. The victim tried to break loose the grip by shoving the defendant’s hands off his shirt and asking him to release him. The victim then managed to break loose defendant’s grip and the witness came to intervene to resolve the dispute between the victim and the defendant by explaining the circumstances that led to the incident.

6 The defendant did not accept the explanation given by the witness that they have kept a safety distance from the defendant’s car. The defendant got more agitated and when the victim asked the defendant whether he is going to hit him, his reply was ‘yes’. The victim then told the defendant that if he dares to hit him, he will call the police. The defendant then used his right fist to give the victim a punch on the stomach, which caused him to bend forward and followed by another punch on his left facial. The victim’s spectacles then flew off. The defendant then continued to assault the victim on his left shoulder and arm. The witness then tried to shield the victim from the assaults and the defendant stop the assault and left the scene. The assaulted(sic) had result(sic) the victim’s shirt to be torn and his spectacle frame was twisted.

7 The medical report from Doctor Jean Ho Chin Ching revealed that the victim was seen at Emergency Department of Alexandra Hospital on 23.02.2003 at 1853 hrs. The report also revealed the follow(sic) injuries on the victim:

i) A 2 cm circular bruise at the front left ear,

ii) A 1 cm bruise at the left clavicle,

iii) A 2 cm bruise at the left shoulder,

iv) Two 3 cm scratches at the left shoulder,

v) A 2 cm circular bruise at the anterior abdominal wall.

The report also state that injuries i, ii, iii and v were consistent with blows from a blunt object and injury iv was consistent with being scratched. The victim was discharged at 2050 hrs on 23.02.2003 and was given a day Medical Leave.

8 The accused admitted to have assaulted the victim as he had lost his temper.

3 The offence in the charge was made out in the Statement of Facts and I convicted the accused on the charge. The accused has a clean record, with no antecedents. He entered an elaborate plea in mitigation before me. He claimed that amongst his friends and peers, he was regarded as a person of integrity and responsibility. In his family, he was regarded as a filial person. To his children, he is a loving and caring father. However, 16 months ago (at the time of the offence), he had failed. He alluded the cause to the rash driving behaviour of the victim that had caused alarm to his children. Consequently, he had failed to respond to his usual composure. Since the day of the offence, his regret and remorse never failed to torment him every single day. He sincerely pleaded to me for leniency as he had very young and aged dependants. He had learnt his mistakes after self-reflection and he would never commit such an offence again.

Sentence

4 This is a road bully case. The victim was punched repeatedly by the accused over a motoring incident, for having dented the accused’s vehicle. As established in the two decisions of the High Court in Ong Hwee Leong v. PP [1992] 1 SLR 794 and PP v. Lee Seck Hing [1992] 2 SLR 745, it has been the policy of our Courts to impose custodial sentences on motorists who resort to violence against others on the road. In PP v. Lee Seck Hing [1992] 2 SLR 745, Yong Pung How CJ stated this sentencing policy in unequivocal terms:

Violent crimes are one of the curses of our society against which it is the primary duty of the courts to protect the public. This is especially so on a small island like Singapore, where citizens live in close proximity to each other: our daily lives are unavoidably intertwined to some extent, making the preservation of order and harmony all the more important.

It is true that in this case the respondent is a relatively young man and that this was his first offence. At the same time this court cannot ignore the fact that his conduct evinced a vindictive and overbearing nature which led him to act in disregard of the law. The court must also be mindful of the need to deter anyone else who would resort with impunity to violence on the roads, especially in view of the deplorable increase in such incidents. Our...