Singapore – A man who rode a personal mobility device (PMD) while drunk and assaulted a couple was sentenced to jail for 13 months, two weeks and one day and fined S$500.
Mr Yeo Kian Heng, 57, was riding a banned PMD with handlebars and an attached electric motor on Feb 1, 2020, when he rode past a man walking home with his wife in Woodlands. The court heard that Mr Yeo had his 10-year-old son sitting in front of the PMD, reported channelnewsasia.com.
The couple, a 55-year-old man and his 50-year-old wife, were walking along the pavement of Woodlands Avenue 7 when the man heard the sound of a horn from behind.
Identified as V1 in court documents, the man turned around and saw Mr Yeo on his PMD. When he rode past the couple, he told the man it was not his father’s road.
Despite his son’s attempts to pull back his dad, Mr Yeo then punched the man on his jaw. The man fell to the ground but Mr Yeo continued punching him, stepping on his ribs and groin.
Finally, Mr Yeo stopped his assault and left the area with his PMD. His son remained and pleaded with the man’s wife to not alert the police. However, the woman replied that Mr Yeo had to take responsibility for his actions.
When Mr Yeo returned, he swung at the man’s wife and kicked at her. She managed to avoid his attacks and fled to her husband’s side.
The man was later taken to the hospital while Mr Yeo left on his PMD. As a result of the assault, the man suffered from a minor head injury, fractured ribs, bruises, nausea and giddiness. He was given a week’s hospitalisation leave.
Mr Yeo admitted “feeling high” when he committed the offences after drinking about two bottles of beer,
Mr Yeo pleaded guilty to three charges of voluntarily causing grievous hurt to the man and his wife and riding a banned PMD on a footpath.
For his offences, the prosecutor asked for 16 months and one day’s jail, noting “a strong message needs to be sent to him and other like-minded individuals that such violence cannot be tolerated”.
Mr Yeo could have been imprisoned for up to 10 years, fined or caned for voluntarily causing grievous hurt and jailed for up to three months, fined up to S$1,500, or both for assault.
Furthermore, the penalty for riding a banned PMD is imprisonment for up to three months, a maximum fine of S$2,500, or both for first-time offences and up to six months’ jail, a maximum fine of S$5,000, or both, for repeat offences./TISG
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PMD riders go for joyride on the road, netizens question enforcement