SINGAPORE: A couple got into the wrong Grab car and after realising their mistake, alighted from the vehicle, only to leave a phone behind.
When the man who originally booked the ride tried to return the phone, he was met with a beating instead that left him bedridden for weeks with broken bones.
The aggressor, 52-year-old Briton Mark Alan Edge, was sentenced to 13 months’ jail on Tuesday (Dec 19) for one count of voluntarily causing grievous hurt, which he contested.
The court heard that Edge was with his wife along Holland Avenue on the night of Jul 12, 2020.
They were both drunk when they mistakenly boarded a Grab car that had been booked by the victim, a 62-year-old man labelled by the prosecution as a “good Samaritan”.
When the couple realised they had taken the wrong car, they disembarked but Edge’s wife left her phone in the back seat.
The victim then boarded the car. Edge later contacted the female Grab driver, who was already on her way to the drop-off destination, asking for the phone back.
GRAB DRIVER WAS AFRAID
The Grab driver testified that she had asked the victim to accompany her back to Holland Village because Edge was drunk and she was afraid.
The victim agreed. However, when the vehicle got back to Holland Village, Edge sucker-punched the victim from behind and assaulted him repeatedly, fracturing his finger and eye socket.
Edge had formed the impression that the victim wanted to extort money from him in return for the phone.
Edge’s wife testified for her husband, but said she could not remember the entire sequence of events. She alleged that the victim grabbed her husband from the back.
District Judge Luke Tan convicted Edge, saying he had punched the victim’s face several times and pushed him to the ground.
The prosecution asked for 18 to 21 months’ jail, inclusive of three months’ jail in lieu of six strokes of the cane, and a compensation order of S$14,481.30 (US$10,900).
Deputy Public Prosecutor Michelle Tay said Edge had reciprocated the victim’s kind gesture with a beating instead.
Edge’s “unprovoked violent campaign” resulted in bone fractures, lacerations on the victim’s face, hands and knees, black eyes, post-concussion syndrome and vertigo, said the prosecutor.
The victim, a director at Manulife Singapore, has taken up a civil suit against Edge. His medical expenses amount to S$14,481.30, according to the prosecution.
The judge declined to order compensation, saying the civil trial would be “the best forum” to decide the entire issue of compensation, damages or related matters.
For voluntarily causing grievous hurt, Edge could have been jailed for up to 10 years and fined. He cannot be caned as he is above 50.