Police arrest 4, including 12-year-old, for assault & robbery of taxi driver

Singapore—The Police announced that four young people from the ages of 12 to 16 have been arrested as suspects in a case of robbery and injury to a 64-year-old male taxi driver.

The four, three boys and one girl, were arrested on Tuesday (Oct 13).

The Police said they received a report on Thursday, October 8, at around 11:35 in the evening that the taxi driver had been “assaulted and robbed” by four individuals that he had brought to Sungei Tengah Road. Officers from Jurong Police Division were able to determine the identities of the four suspects via inquiries, police cameras, and CCTV footage, leading to the suspects’ arrest on Oct 13.

Three out of the four youngsters are also suspected to be involved in another case of housebreaking on Choa Chu Kang Avenue 7, according to the Police’s initial investigations.

The four will appear in court on Wednesday, Oct 14, and face charges of robbery with hurt under Section 394 of the Penal Code, Chapter 224, which could land them between five and 20 years in jail if convicted, along with a caning penalty for the males in the group.

While juvenile delinquency has not been a major problem for Singapore, this is not the first time that teenagers have been in the news for breaking the law. A few months ago, while the country was still under the circuit breaker, a group of 11 armed teens were charged in district court for their unlawful gathering as well as breaking circuit breaker restrictions.

The group, composed of 10 boys and one girl between the ages of 16 and 19, had allegedly come together on the evening of May 25 for a “settlement talk” over a previous dispute. But the settlement talk turned into a fight, wherein some teens wielded their knives, which is why they face one count of joining an unlawful assembly while armed with a deadly weapon as well as another offence under the Covid-19 (Temporary Measures) Act.

Four of the teens involved in the unlawful gathering have had prior trouble with the law, and were involved in a rioting incident on the evening of March 12 at Boon Lay Interchange.

Based on the charges against them, the teens face six months of jail time and/or a fine of as much a S$10,000 for having violated Regulation 6 of the COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) Regulations 2020. And for joining an unlawful assembly while armed with a deadly weapon, they face five years of imprisonment as well as a fine, caning, or a combination of penalties. —/TISG

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Armed teens who broke circuit breaker to settle dispute may be jailed for 5 years