A 49-year-old man who admitted to injuring his ex-girlfriend in a fight days after they broke up was issued a 10-day, short detention order on Tuesday ( Dec 24 ).
Additionally, Lim Hwa Ghee admitted to repeatedly kicking Ms. Chua Sok Hoon’s experience while putting her over on a bed and frightening her.
He admitted guilt on one count of causing harm on purpose, with another count of unlawful intimidation being taken into account.
The prosecutor was informed that Ms. Chua, 46, and Lim were living up in her apartment.
After an argument in April 2023, they ended their marriage.
When Lim and Ms. Chua got into a disagreement over their relationship and their living provisions, they broke up on April 8, 2023, in the apartment.
Ms. Chua grabbed Lim’s clothing to stop him from leaving the apartment as the conversation grew heated. Lim relented but pushed her arms, and she slapped him to support herself.
Irritated, Lim slapped Ms Chua thrice and took a helicopter from the house. Next he dragged her by her arm to the home.
He threw her onto the pillow and pinned her neck with his hands while swinging the helicopter several times beside her face as she covered her face.
While doing this, Lim asked her:” You still want to do this, is it”?
At some point, he lost his grip on the heli and it fell to the ground. Ms Chua, who was crying, saw an opportunity to find away and left the room.
In the living room, they kept fighting, even arguing over a sock support that had gotten bloody during the earlier conflict. Mr Chua told Lim he was “in problem”.
She and Lim fought with each other to stop him from doing so, and she wanted to remove the pillow support so that she could have it cleaned. He later relented.
Ms. Chua agitated Lim by preventing him from leaving the apartment half more.
She was unable to breathe for a moment as he grabbed her throat with one side and pressed her against the wall before letting go right away.
Mr Chua then told Lim to leave the house, and he did. After that evening, she reported the incident to the police.
A medical exam found pain on her neck, chest and shoulders as well as an abrasion , on her chest and a slice on her shoulder.
She received three weeks of sick leave and pain medication.
Initial requests for five to six weeks ‘ imprisonment for Lim were changed to a small confinement order of seven to fourteen days after arguments were made by Deputy Public Prosecutor Chan Yi Cheng.
He described the abuse as prolonged and severe, highlighting Lim’s work of grabbing the defendant’s throat, which is a vulnerable area, and the use of a chopper to terrify her.
Initial requests for a higher fine were changed to a quick detention order of three days, according to defense counsel Asoka Markandu.
He asserted that his customer wasn’t the fight’s offender.
The target prevented Lim from leaving the apartment each day, according to the prosecutor, and the debate grew. He claimed Lim had returned his vehicle keys and wanted to leave.
Mr. Chan countered that Lim’s response was “over the top” and that he escalated into retribution as the event progressed.
In cases of deliberately causing harm, District Judge John Ng said it was crucial to consider the context in which the assault began.
Lim’s actions met the boundary for a judicial name rather than a good, but a community-based word was appropriate as he was a first-time offender, the judge said.
While there was a stormy element to Lim’s relationship with the victim, there was no continuous assault and the infraction was a one-off event, Judge Ng added.
He even noted that the sufferer had stated that the cut on her shoulder had been caused by an unintentional incident during the struggle and not by Lim swinging the helicopter.
A little detention order, which is a 14-day community-based sentence that prevents criminal activity but does not keep a criminal record, serves as a deterrent.
The maximum punishment for voluntarily causing hurt is three years in jail, a S$ 5, 000 ( US$ 3, 680 ) fine, or both.