SINGAPORE: A man was jailed for four weeks on Friday (Feb 23) for slapping a 13-year-old boy who had been playing catch outside his flat with a group of friends.
One of the boy’s friends had splashed liquid at the flat, and the man and his wife suspected they were the same group who had thrown potato chips into their home a week earlier.
Lim Bock Eng, 52, pleaded guilty to one count of voluntarily causing hurt to a minor.
The court heard that Lim, a Singaporean hawker, lived on the fifth floor of a block of flats in Bedok North.
Before 4.40pm on Jun 15 last year, the victim, his younger brother and two friends were playing catch outside Lim’s flat.
As the children ran past, one of the victim’s friends splashed a transparent liquid at Lim’s unit.
Lim who was home with his wife looked outside to see the victim’s friend splashing the liquid.
The couple was angry as they suspected that the culprits were the same children who had thrown potato chips into their home a week earlier.
Lim shouted at the children, who fled.
The victim went to a nearby playground with his younger brother and one of his friends. The friend who had thrown the liquid did not accompany them.
Lim went looking for the culprits and spotted the victim and the other children sitting at the playground.
When the victim saw Lim, he tried to leave. He told Lim that he wanted to go home but Lim stopped him.
The boy kept insisting he wanted to go home and tried to push Lim away.
Lim then slapped the boy once on his face, causing him pain.
He asked the boy why he had splashed water at his flat and the boy said it was his friend who had done it.
PAST CONVICTIONS
The prosecutor on Friday asked for jail, listing Lim’s past convictions dating from 1989 for crimes like theft, criminal trespass and criminal intimidation.
He had been sentenced to jail, caning and corrective training in the past.
The prosecutor said that while the hurt caused was low, the offence was a one-sided attack on a vulnerable victim.
In mitigation, Lim asked if he could get a fine instead. He said his son, who accompanied him in court, had recently been in a traffic accident and needed weekly x-rays.
Speaking through a Mandarin interpreter, Lim said he was the sole breadwinner and could not afford to lose his job as he had to pay medical fees.
He said he wished to apologise for his “rash act”.
The judge agreed that jail should be imposed, citing the chief aggravating factor which was that the victim was vulnerable and that Lim had slapped a vulnerable part of his body.
The penalties for voluntarily causing hurt are a jail term of up to three years, a fine of up to S$5,000, or both.
As the victim was below 14, Lim could have been given double these penalties.