IP addresses are NOT logged in this forum so there's no point asking. Please note that this forum is full of homophobes, racists, lunatics, schizophrenics & absolute nut jobs with a smattering of geniuses, Chinese chauvinists, Moderate Muslims and last but not least a couple of "know-it-alls" constantly sprouting their dubious wisdom. If you believe that content generated by unsavory characters might cause you offense PLEASE LEAVE NOW! Sammyboy Admin and Staff are not responsible for your hurt feelings should you choose to read any of the content here. The OTHER forum is HERE so please stop asking.
Ong Kim Hua, 32, unemployed pleading guilty for causing hurt and being mistaken a loanshark runner leaving Subordinate Court. -- ST PHOTO: AZIZ HUSSIN
FAMILY members, who called in the police after catching a 'loanshark runner', were themselves arrested for assault as he turned out to be a bank manager.
Their victim, Mr Lee Jing Chong, had to be warded for five days at Tan Tock Seng Hospital for treatment of his injuries and required medical leave for a further 10 days.
In a district court on Monday, Ong Kim Hua together with his mother and his uncle, Teo Ho Seng, pleaded guilty to hurting the 31-year-old banker outside their Ang Mo Kio Ave 1 flat in 2009.
Ong, 32, who is unemployed, also admitted to threatening to break Mr Lee's legs with a metal rod if he attempted to escape.
A district court heard the flat was vandalised at about 3am on March 15, 2009. At 6am, Ong was repainting the areas splashed with paint when he spotted Mr Lee walking along the corridor. He demanded to know what the stranger was up to.
Mr Lee tried explaining that he was there to deliver medicine to a friend living on the same floor but to no avail. Accusing Mr Lee of being a loanshark, Ong brandished a 0.87m-long metal rod, and demanded Mr Lee's wallet, cell phone and the plastic bag in his hand.
Mr Lee refused and Ong started throwing punches, while calling out to other family members. Teo, 47, came out of the flat and joined in the assault.
Teo's mother Teo Suan Kee, 57, a housewife, also came out to smack Mr Lee on the head several times.Teo's mother then called the police, telling them that they had detained a loanshark runner.
However, investigations revealed that Mr Lee was really visiting a friend and was not involved in illegal activities. It was also discovered that Ong had stood as a guarantor for a friend who borrowed from an unlicensed moneylender.
The friend defaulted on the debt and to 'catch' the loanshark runners that came to vandalise the flat, Ong kept two metal rods near the door.
Trio jailed for hitting banker they mistook for runner
By Khushwant Singh
Deliveryman Teo Ho Seng was jailed three months for punching and slapping bank manager Lee Jing Chong. -- ST PHOTO: AZIZ HUSSIN
THREE members of a family that called the police after apprehending what they thought was a loanshark runner were jailed for assault on Monday. The man they beat up in 2009 turned out to be a bank manager visiting a friend living in the same block of flats in Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1.
Ong Kim Hua, 32, a part-time salesman, was jailed a year for hitting Mr Lee Jing Chong, 31, with a metal rod and threatening to break Mr Lee's legs. Ong's uncle Teo Ho Seng, 47, a delivery man, was sentenced to three months in jail for punching and slapping the bank manager while Ong's mother Teo Suan Kee, 57, a housewife, was jailed a month for smacking Mr Lee's head several times.
The attackers were also ordered to pay $1,000 each in compensation to Mr Lee.District Judge Lee Poh Choo said that the trio, who had pleaded guilty last month, had taken the law in their own hands to mete out their own brand of justice, adding: 'Illegal money-lending activities are rife and there will be chaos if people are allowed to assault those they suspect,' said the judge.
Defence counsel Kertar Singh, described the incident as a 'genuine mistake' and asked the court to be lenient. But Deputy Public Prosecutor Ruth Wong said Mr Lee had to be warded for five days in Tan Tock Seng Hospital for treatment of a haemorrhage in the right eye and cuts and bruises all over his body.
The bank manager, who now suffers frequent headaches and pain in a knee, also had to quit his job as he was unable to perform his duties, the prosecutor added. Ong had stood as a guarantor for a friend who borrowed from an unlicensed moneylender.
The friend defaulted on the debt and, to 'catch' the loan-shark runners that had come to vandalise the flat, Ong kept two metal rods. The door of the trio's three-room flat was vandalised with paint at about 3am on March 15, 2009. At 6am, Ong was repainting the affected areas when he spotted Mr Lee and demanded to know what he was up to.
