Wine bottle thug sentenced to reformative training for unprovoked attack
Published Oct 16, 2015, 3:48 pm SGT
Jasmine Osada
SINGAPORE - A young man who attacked a passer by with wine bottles in an unprovoked attack was sentenced to reformative training on Friday (Oct 16) for causing grievous hurt.
Stephen Yap Rong En, 21, who stood trial to the charges, showed no emotion when the sentence was handed down.
A court heard that in the early hours of Feb 1 last year, Mr Sim Maw Chai, 22, was waiting for a taxi with a friend outside the Jalan Sultan Textile Centre when he felt someone bump into him. He was soon confronted by Yap and his friend, Ng Wei Liang, 22.
Mr Sim apologised to the duo, but instead of letting the matter rest, Yap and Ng asked him to kneel down. When Mr Sim tried to walk away, Yap and Ng began kicking and punching him.
The duo then headed towards a nearby 7-Eleven convenience store and took two glass wine bottles each.
When Mr Sim came into the store, Yap threw a bottle at him and grabbed another one. Both Yap and Ng then attacked Mr Sim with the wine bottles, hitting him several times on his head and body, before leaving the store soon after.
Mr Sim suffered a 1cm laceration on the right side of his head and a fractured left index finger. He was later discharged and given seven days of sick leave.
Yap's lawyer, Mr S. K. Kumar, asked the court for a jail sentence, noting that his client was only 20 years old when he committed the offence, but is now an adult.
District Judge Jasvender Kaur, in sentencing Yap to reformative training instead, said that the young offender would benefit from the programmes there.
Ng was sentenced last month to a total of 15 months in jail for the attack and two other unrelated charges.
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