Man who attacked madrasah students gets six months' jail, Singapore News

PUBLISHED ONMay 21, 2016 4:18 AMByElena Chong

SINGAPORE - A security officer who attacked three madrasah students within minutes last month was sentenced to six months' jail on Friday (May 20).

Koh Weng Onn, 48, was convicted of kicking the thigh of a 16-year-old student along Paya Lebar Road at about 7.22am on April 1.

He also admitted to doing a rash act to endanger personal safety by swinging a plastic bag containing a filled 1.5-litre water bottle at a 14-year-old girl, hitting her on the face as she was walking on the pedestrian pavement at 7.23am the same day.

The attacks prompted government and community leaders of all races to stress that racially motivated acts of violence will not be condoned.

They also urged all communities to stand united against such acts. Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean had said: "As a society, we should stand together against all forms of violence against innocent persons, especially if there may be racial or religious undertones."

Koh, who was diagnosed with delusional disorder by the Institute of Mental Health, was reported to have made more than 300 police reports since 2008, mostly against people of other races.

Most of them appeared to have been generated by his belief that he was being targeted by others, said the prosecutor last month.

Examples included a report against a sales promoter immediately after buying a product from her and a report about a woman he felt was "sitting inappropriately".

This article was first published on May 20, 2016.
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