Grab driver who punched passenger gets 5 months jail-time

A Grab driver punched a man who refused to cancel his booking, causing the victim to lose two teeth.

The passenger, Mr He Yong, 36, had another two teeth extracted as well as they were displaced.

The driver, Muhammad Hidir Mohammad Alimon, 32, pleaded guilty on Friday (July 12) to an assault charge and was sentenced to five months’ jail.

He was also ordered to pay Mr He $9,146 in compensation.

At around 11.40am on May 12 last year, Mr He used a booking app to request a five-seater car to ferry his family to Choa Chu Kang.

Hidir arrived in a black Audi and saw that Mr He’s two young children, aged four and seven, were likely to be below 1.35m tall.

According to requirements by the Land Transport Authority (LTA), Mr He’s children require booster seats. As such, Hidir then asked him to cancel the booking and make other arrangements.

Mr He then booked another private-hire vehicle without cancelling Hidir’s trip.

Hidir had left the scene, but drove back to Mr He after realising that the older man had failed to cancel his earlier booking and repeated his request.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Jordon Li said, “The victim refused to do so and responded that the accused should be the one to cancel the booking since he had refused to ferry the victim and his family.”

Hidir stopped Mr He as he was about to get into the second vehicle and punched him on his mouth, drawing blood.

In a Facebook post last year, Hidir wrote his own account of things. He said, “After waiting for 5 mins, he (Mr He) did not cancel the booking and I decide to make my way back to his location. I saw him waiting and asked why is he not cancelling the booking as I cant accept any further call if he does not do so. He shouted at me asking me why should he be cancelling? Im the one who rejected him.

Hidir explained that his cancellation Rate was insufficient for him to cancel, and that it would result in his incentive for the whole week ($300+) to be forfeited.

“When another private-hire vehicle arrived, “The family approached the car and boarded the car immediately, I then went to the rider and furthermore requested him to cancel only to be told (sic) off that he will cancel afterwards”.

“He sarcastically laughed at me and that was when I cant (sic) hold back my emotions to be treated like a beggar”, Hidir wrote.

Hidir was offered bail of $10,000 and was to begin serving his sentence on July 26. For assault, he could have been jailed for up to two years and fined up to $5,000.

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