SINGAPORE: While trying to change lanes, a driver side-swiped a taxi’s side mirror and the situation soon escalated.
The driver repeatedly pushed the cabby before groping his private parts – actions which landed him in court where he pleaded guilty on Wednesday (Jul 31) to charges of rash act and voluntarily causing hurt.
A third charge of cursing at the taxi driver will be considered in sentencing.
WHAT HAPPENED
The incident happened at around 7.40pm on Mar 5, 2023, near the junction of Bedok North Road and New Upper Changi Road.
The court heard that the driver, 70-year-old Singaporean Chua Jin Leong, was travelling in the left lane next to the taxi when he signalled and tried to filter right into the cabby’s lane.
According to in-car camera footage played in court, the cabby kept going straight and the side mirrors of both vehicles collided.
The cabby, a 65-year-old man surnamed Tai, was seen exiting his vehicle. He spoke briefly to Chua through the latter’s window before moving aside to take photos of the vehicles.
Chua got out of his car and the pair began gesturing at each other in the middle of the road.
Chua then pushed the taxi driver, who called for police assistance. This aggravated matters and Chua pushed the cabby backwards twice along the road.
When they moved to the kerb, the cabby “pranced around” in front of Chua and shook his head from side to side.
Chua placed his hands around the cabby’s neck before groping his private parts.
The taxi driver later sought medical attention at a hospital, with the report stating that he had tenderness over his scrotum and upper back. He was given four days of medical leave.
The prosecutor sought about three to four weeks’ jail, saying it was a road rage incident where the accused assaulted a vulnerable part of the victim’s body and pushed him along a public road where vehicles were oncoming throughout.
The defence, meanwhile, stressed that there was “significant provocation” from the taxi driver, which lowers Chua’s culpability.
Defence lawyer Tan Jun Yin from Trident Law said the cabby had threatened to call the police and send Chua to jail, and also made “monkey faces” at him.
The prosecutor responded that the defence’s claims did not amount to provocation on the cabby’s part to the extent that it becomes mitigatory for Chua.
The judge adjourned sentencing to August.