Public Prosecutor v Shahul Hamid s/o Ahamed

JurisdictionSingapore
JudgeSalina Bte Ishak
Judgment Date24 September 2014
Neutral Citation[2014] SGDC 369
CourtDistrict Court (Singapore)
Docket NumberMCN - 900239—2014, Magistrate’s Appeal No 9031 of 2014/01
Published date24 September 2014
Year2014
Hearing Date15 September 2014,22 September 2014
Plaintiff CounselAPP Daniel Marini
Defendant CounselMr Krishnamoorthi s/o Kolanthaveloo on behalf of S K Law Practice LLP
Citation[2014] SGDC 369
District Judge Salina Bte Ishak: The Charges

The Accused, Mr Shahul Hamid Bin Ahamed had initially claimed trial to a charge that on 30 September 2013, at or about 10.40 a.m., along the Ayer Rajah Expressway in the direction towards the city, opposite the National University Hospital, Singapore, he voluntarily caused hurt to one Ramlee bin Ahmid, by pushing the latter, causing him to fall to the ground and thereafter kicking him which is an offence punishable under Section 323 of the Penal Code (Cap 224, 2008 Revised Edition). The matter was fixed for two days of hearing.

On 15 September 2014, the first day of the hearing, he elected to plead guilty to the charge and admitted to the Statement of Facts without any qualification. His Counsel, Mr Krishnamoorthi s/o Kolanthaveloo (mentioning on Mr S K Kumar’s behalf) applied for his mitigation and sentence to be adjourned to the scheduled second day of the trial on 22 September 2014 as he had some personal matters to attend to. I allowed his application.

Summary of Facts

The Statement of Facts (“Exhibit PS1”) which the Accused agreed to without qualification reads as follows:

Introduction

The accused is one Shahul Hamid s/o Ahamed, a 33-year old male Singaporean (“the accused”). At the material time, the accused was driving a pick-up lorry bearing the license plate number GBB 1350Z (“the lorry”). The victim in relation to the charge is one Ramlee bin Ahmid, a 70-year old male (“the victim”). At the material time, the victim was riding a motorcycle bearing the license plate number FBA 6055Z (“the motorcycle”). The witnesses in relation to this incident are: Rahman bin Ali (“W1”), Shaiful Faizal bin Rahman (“W2”) and See Kar Heng (“W3”). All 3 witnesses were driving past the incident location at the material time and they pulled over to render assistance.

First Information Report

On 30 September 2013, at or about 10.40am, the police received a call with the following message: “There are 2 Malays who are truck drivers beating a motorcyclist. Please send police. I just drove past them.” The incident location was given as AYE.

Facts Relating to the Charge

Investigations revealed that on 30 September 2013, at or about 10.40am, the victim was riding without any passengers along the Ayer Rajah Expressway (“AYE”) in the direction of the city, opposite the National University Hospital. The victim was riding along the second lane from the left when the lorry abruptly cut into his lane without signaling. The victim was traveling at or about 80 km/h and had to apply his brakes. The victim then managed to overtake the lorry and while parallel to the lorry, the victim gestured at the accused for driving recklessly. Both vehicles subsequently pulled over by the side of the road further ahead. The accused exited his vehicle and approached the victim in an aggressive manner and said: “You want to fight me?” The victim took out his handphone in order to take a photo of the accused. Without warning, the accused then used both of his hands to push the victim, causing the victim to fall onto the road shoulder. The victim’s head hit the road surface. The accused then started kicking the victim several times. W3, who was driving by at this time, observed the victim lying down in a defensive position, using his hands to cover his head in order to protect himself. The witnesses stopped to render assistance. The police was subsequently called. The victim was seen at the Emergency Department of the National University Hospital on 30 September 2013. He was noted to have the following injuries:

a. Right elbow abrasion 2x3cm

b. Abrasion over the right lateral ankle 0.5cm

c. Neck pain without visible bruising or deformity.

The victim was diagnosed with neck strain and abrasions. He was given medical leave for 4 days (Medical Report by Dr. Srinesh Balakrishnan dated 12 October 2013 refers).

The accused has admitted to pushing the victim and subsequently kicking him in his statement. The accused has made compensation to the victim. Antecedents

The Accused is untraced.

Prosecution’s Address on Sentence

During the Prosecution’s oral address on sentence, APP Daniel Marini tendered a table of precedents and submitted that in ‘road rage’ cases the benchmark ranges from 2 to 6 weeks. Precedents for s323, Cap 224: Road Rage

S/N Brief Facts
1 PP v Syed Salahuddin s/o Mohd Ramal (PS 553 -554/2009) 1st charge - The victim (a taxi driver) horned at the accused who was riding his motorcycle. The accused then drove his motorcycle and cut into the victim’s lane causing the victim to stop his taxi. The Accused then walked towards the victim’s taxi, the victim wound down his window and the accused punched the victim’s face. The victim sustained a 2 cm diameter swelling and bruise at the corner of his left eye. 2nd charge – The accused and the victim were driving along Lavender Street and turning into Serangoon Road. Both vehicles got into a traffic accident. Both persons stopped their vehicles at the side of the road and confronted each other. They had an argument and the defendant punched the victim causing him to move backwards and fall into a drain behind him. The victim sustained a swelling on the right side of his face and some abrasions. The accused who had a prior antecedent for voluntarily causing hurt in 2004 was sentenced to 6 weeks’ imprisonment and 12 weeks’ imprisonment for the first and second charge respectively. The sentences were ordered to run consecutively.
2 PP v Kau Kan Foh (PSM 461/10) The victim knocked into the accused’s car while he was driving from one lane to another lane. The accused got off the car and approached the victim. He pulled the victim out of the vehicle and started punching him. As a result, the victim suffered visible injuries to his right eye. He was untraced and was sentenced to 4 weeks’ imprisonment .
3 PP v Chan Yi Wen (PSM 461/10) The victim filtered into the centre lane ahead of the accused’s car. The accused alighted from his vehicle to confront the victim for cutting into his path. Upon reaching the victim’s car, the accused started hitting the victim’s right side window and mirror. When the victim wound down his driver’s side mirror, the accused threw a punch on the right side of the victim’s face. The victim sustained the following injuries: a) neck stiffness; b) slightly tender 3 cm wide, faint erythematous lesion on the right cheek; and c)a 6 cm erythematous patch on left occiput. The accused who had antecedents for theft with common intention; fraudulent possession of property; drug trafficking; rioting and theft was sentenced to 2 weeks imprisonment .
4 PP v Lee Wee Gee (MCN 000153/2011 The accused punched the victim about 2 to 3 times on his neck and face. Due to the punches, the victim fell backwards and the back of his head hit the ground causing it to bleed. The accused indicated that he would be willing to make compensation to the victim. Prosecution highlighted several factors – Victim was an elderly and vulnerable victim; there had been no provocation at all; the victim did not retaliate at all; the accused had punched him on the face and head causing the victim to bleed profusely. The accused who had antecedents for rash driving on a public way; failing to display ‘L’ plates; failure to insure against 3rd party risks; improper identification marks (all in 1986 and 1987) was sentenced to 4 weeks’ imprisonment .
He then highlighted the aggravating factors in the present case. Firstly, the victim is a...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT