Singapore — A 48-year-old odd job worker was fined $4,000 on Monday (Dec 30) for slapping two of his son’s schoolmates who had badmouthed the teenager.
The man pleaded guilty to one count of voluntarily causing hurt, with two other charges related to the incident being taken into consideration.
The names of all three have not been released in order to protect the identities of the schoolmates, who are both younger than 16.
The man found out that his son, who is now 15 years old, was the victim of bullying at his school towards the end of last year. The son had been friends with the two teens, aged 14 and 15.
On May 15 this year, according to a report in The New Paper, the man received a call from his wife. She was concerned that some teenagers were looking for their son. The man met them and was told that two others had badmouthed his son.
The man used his son’s cellphone to call one of the teens and arranged to meet him the next day at 3.30 pm at a coffee shop at Block 526, Jurong West Street 52.
The two teens accused of bullying met the man but initially denied saying bad things about his son.
The man confronted them again at a nearby playground at around 5 pm. The Deputy Public Prosecutor, Mr Derek Ee, told the court that the teen the man had contacted earlier admitted he had said the mean things about his son. The teen admitted this because he was concerned for his own safety.
The man slapped him twice on the cheek and also gave the other teen a slap on the cheek. He then told them to stop saying bad things about his son. He also shouted vulgarities and made rude gestures during the confrontation.
The teens were relatively unhurt despite being slapped and did not seek medical help. The teen who had been slapped twice, however, filed a police report against the odd job worker on May 17.
The man could have been fined as much as $5,000 and jailed up to two years for the offence of voluntarily causing hurt. -/TISG
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