Cabby assaulted: Passenger tried to hit his head with her shoe

While inside a taxi, beautician Fan Xiling decided she needed to smoke.

But after she lit her cigarette, taxi driver Shah Kamariza Raja Abdul Razak, 36, told her to pay him and get out if she wanted to smoke.

Fan, 34, walked out without paying. When Mr Shah rushed out to confront her, Fan refused to pay and, along with her friend, attacked him.

Fan and her friend, stall assistant Li Li, 41, were each jailed for six weeks yesterday after pleading guilty to one count of voluntarily causing hurt.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Timotheus Koh told the court that Mr Shah picked them up at 1am on March 14 at Peace Centre in Sophia Road.

The women, who had been drinking, told him to drive them to Block 204, Toa Payoh North before going to Sengkang.

At the first stop, Li alighted to collect some items from a friend .

Mr Shah was inside the taxi with Fan when she told him she wanted to smoke.

Before he could reply, she wound a window down and lit up.

DPP Koh said: "The victim told her he does not allow smoking in his taxi and if she wanted to continue, she could alight and pay the fare of $15.30.

"Fan alighted without paying the fare and crossed the road."

He chased her and pulled her bag, asking her to pay up. She refused, saying that if she could not smoke, she would not pay the fare.

Li joined in the dispute after she completed running her errands.

The women turned violent when Mr Shah called the police.

Fan kicked Mr Shah's left thigh. Li punched his face and body multiple times. They tore his shirt. Fan tried to hit his head with her heeled shoe.

Both women were arrested after the police arrived.

Mr Shah suffered injuries including a 2cm-long scratch near his right eye and two superficial scratches on his left arm.

DPP Koh urged District Judge Shawn Ho to jail each woman for six weeks, stressing that they were intoxicated at the time of the offence.

Their lawyer, Mr Troy Yeo, asked for his clients, both of whom are Singapore permanent residents from China, to be fined and said the attack was unplanned.

Before the sentencing, Judge Ho said he agreed with the prosecution.

He said the women had taken part in a group attack and that taxi drivers are vulnerable to acts of violence.

The women could have been jailed for up to two years and fined up to $5,000 each.

This article was first published on Nov 13, 2015.
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