Stall assistant sentenced to four weeks' jail for punching taxi driver
Yoo Song Waet (pictured) was sentenced to four weeks' jail after he admitted to punching Mr Amin Aziz.ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW
Published 11 hours ago
Elena Chong
Court Correspondent
SINGAPORE - A stall assistant shouted vulgarities at a taxi driver and complained about the $20 fare before punching the cabby on the face four to five times, a court heard on Thursday (Jan 14).
Yoo Song Waet, 69, was sentenced to four weeks' jail after he admitted to punching Mr Amin Aziz, 52, on the face in the open air carpark at Block 102, Commonwealth Crescent, at about 11.30pm on March 14, 2014.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Michelle Lu said that Yoo had consumed alcohol at a wedding dinner at a hotel that evening before he boarded Mr Amin's taxi at 11.07pm.
He told the driver that he wanted to go to Holland Crescent, but later clarified that he wished to go to Commonwealth Crescent.
He slept throughout the journey.
When the taxi arrived at Commonwealth Crescent, Yoo appeared to be in a daze and indicated that he wanted to go to Block 102.
Mr Aziz stopped his taxi at the carpark and told Yoo that the fare was about $20.
Yoo shouted vulgarities in Hokkien and Malay, and complained about the taxi fare. Mr Aziz said Yoo could choose not to pay as he had the contact number of the person who called for his taxi.
After paying the fare, Yoo alighted and walked towards the driver's side. He opened the door and punched the cabby on his face. The taxi driver did not retaliate, and eventually managed to get out of his seat and run away.
Another taxi driver tried to intervene and called the police.
In another court, taxi driver Ang Yoke Kee, 47, was sentenced to two weeks' jail after he was found guilty of forcefully pushing motorist Adrian Low Kok Hui at the open space carpark at Block 702, Ang Mo Kio Avenue 8, on April 20, 2013.
District Judge Michelle Yap sentenced him to a concurrent three-day jail sentence for spitting at the 45-year-old director of a semiconductor company that day.
The court heard that Ang, who was driving a blue Prime hatchback taxi at the time, and Mr Low had a dispute about a parking space in which Mr Low had parked his Jaguar car.
Mr Low had testified that he had driven to the carpark with his wife to pick up his daughters from tuition.
After parking his car, he went behind Block 702 when he heard Ang sounding his horn from the carpark.
Gesturing at him, Ang claimed that Mr Low had taken his space and asked him to move his car. A quarrel ensued. Ang alighted from his taxi and hurled vulgarities at Mr Low.
Ang then drove his taxi and stopped in front of Mr Low's car. He used a black tablet to take photos or videos of the car and charged towards Mr Low.
Mr Low said Ang spat on his face once and punched him on the right cheek. He fell.
Ang's defence was that Mr Low had taunted him by calling him "ah gua'' (transvestite) repeatedly. Ang also alleged that Mr Low had kicked his right leg.
The judge did not buy his story that he acted in self-defence.
Ang, who intends to appeal, could have been jailed for up to two years and fined for voluntarily causing hurt. He had previous convictions for causing hurt and disorderly behaviour.
