A retiree and his adult son were jailed for three weeks each for beating up and choking a young boy over an argument about football being played at a multipurpose hall, a court heard on Monday (April 18).
The pair had choked the boy, then 13, and slammed him headfirst to the ground, causing multiple bruises on his body. The retiree, Ong Eng Seng, 62, and his son, Bernard Ong, 32, both pleaded guilty to one charge each of voluntarily causing hurt with common intention.
The court heard on Monday that the incident happened on Dec 22, 2019, at the multipurpose hall in Block 6, Lorong 7 Toa Payoh, where the boy and three of his friends had been playing football.
Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Andre Chong told the court that as the elder Ong walked through the hall, the football came close to him. This prompted Ong to confront the players and shout vulgarities at them. That prompted the boys to respond in kind.
Ong told them he would be back and headed home to seek the help of his son.
Court documents said that when the father returned with his son, the boys were sitting on the floor. Bernard Ong pulled the 13-year-old boy to his feet and shouted at him: “Eh you made fun of my dad ah!” Then, holding the boy by his neck, Bernard then “slammed” him to the floor, DPP Chong said.
The Ongs`lawyer Mervyn Tan said in mitigation that the senior Ong had rebuked the boys for playing in the multipurpose hall, where playing football was not allowed.
Mr Tan argued that the elder Ong had scolded the boys out of a sense of “social consciousness” and the son felt the boy had taken advantage of his elderly father.
DPP Chong countered that what the father and son did was “antisocial” and it was about “two grown men ganging up” on a young boy.
District Judge Ng Peng Hong agreed and told the Ongs they should feel fortunate that the boy’s injuries were minor, or the pair would likely be facing more jail time.
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