A 65-year-old retiree was sentenced to six weeks of jail term on Monday after he was arrested for throwing a glass bottle from his 10th storey flat that damaged a BMW car in Tampines.
The court documents stated that the accused, Ee Tian Chon committed the crime on April 9, 2016. The car was parked for almost four hours at an uncovered parking area. The elderly man had thrown the glass bottle contained with unknown litter, it hit the roof of the BMW and caused more than S$10,000 in damage.
During court hearing, the judge came to know that on the day of that incident Ee went to a nearby coffee shop to buy two bottles of beer. However, the accused admitted in the court that, he had a habit of throwing things out from his flat.
The court documents also revealed that the accused was convicted of mischief for scratching the car of a stallholder many times in 2017 and he was a financier of the victim's noodle's stall, which was situated in Sengkang.
The court heard that once Ee asked for the extra ingredients in his noodles but he was told by the hawker that he has to pay more to get it. That incident made him angry and slighted. A few days later, he started to keep a track on when the vehicle of the stallholder was arriving and he started to scratch it by using his house keys, whenever he came across to the car.
District Judge Shaiffudin Saruwan stated that the incident of throwing litter from his 10th-floor flat on a BMW is considered as a serious offence with serious repercussions. In addition, the he said that the owner of the car and his wife were lucky that those bottles did not cause any injuries to them.
Under Section 425 Penal Code, Mischief is considered as a serious criminal offence. Based on the seriousness of this crime there are 11 types of penalties a person could face. In this case, the accused could have been sentenced to a jail term up to one year, fine or both.
For committing an act so rashly or negligently that endangered a human life or the personal safety, the offender of rash act could face an imprisonment for a term which may extend to 6 months, or with fine which may extend to $2,500, or with both; or in the case of a negligent act, with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 3 months, or with fine which may extend to $1,500, or with both.
