Singapore—On Monday (Dec 30), a 32-year-old man named Muhammad Fadly Rosli received a four-week jail sentence and was ordered to pay for the medical bills of a taxi driver whom he had struck in an altercation on July 31 of this year.
Mr Fadly pleaded guilty to one charge of voluntarily causing hurt.
The driver, 49-year-old Andy Lim, had attempted to quell the boisterous behavior of Mr Fadly and his three companions inside the cab, out of concern for the safety of the people riding. However, for his pains, Mr Lim was struck on the face by Mr Fadly, which caused the driver to seek medical treatment.
Mr Lim had picked up Mr Fadly and his friends—two other men and a woman—at Orchard Towers shortly after 11:00 pm on July 31. They were en route to Sumang Walk.
According to the Deputy Public Prosecutor on the case, Ho Jiayun, the passengers behaved in a boisterous manner and even hit the car’s roof numerous times, refusing to cease doing this and to settle down even though Mr Lim had told them several times to stop hitting the roof.
This led to an altercation between Mr Lim, Mr Fadly, and one other passenger, wherein Mr Lim was struck by Mr Fadly on the left side of his face.
Mr Lim then began to head towards to the nearest police station, while the passengers were still in his taxi.
But all the passengers left the taxi at a traffic junction at Ang Mo Kio. Later, though, Mr Fadly and another of his friends returned to Mr Lim’s cab to pay for their ride.
At 11:32 that night, Mr Lim called the police to tell them he had been struck in his face and that he was looking for the people who had been in his cab. He also went to Sengkang General Hospital’s Accident and Emergency Department, where specialist examined his face. He was diagnosed as having suffered a contusion and was given medical leave of two days.
DPP Ho asked that Mr Fadly be given a four-week jail sentence as well as be compelled to pay for the taxi driver’s medical bills, arguing that Mr Lim, being a public transport worker, is vulnerable to violence. He had done nothing to provoke his passengers, and had been merely trying to get them to calm down, she said, adding that the taxi driver had been “placed in such fear that he felt compelled to drive to a police station,” according to Channel NewsAsia (CNA).
The Deputy Public Prosecutor also cited Mr Fadly’s past convictions dating from 2001, which includes rioting, theft, and desertion from the Singapore Civil Defence Force.
Mr Fadly chose not to be represented by a lawyer and asked for leniency in the sentencing. On the charge of voluntarily causing hurt, he could have received a maximum fine of S$5,000, been jailed for two years, or both penalties. -/TISG