Man jailed for attacking student in road rage incident

Man jailed for attacking student in road rage incident

A PROPERTY agent was jailed for four weeks yesterday for punching and kicking another motorist in a road rage incident.

Raymond Ch'ng Leimeng, now 33, reached through 21-year-old Timothy Lim Jun Hao's car window to rain blows on the student's face after he bumped his car side's mirror while leaving a carpark.

When Mr Lim got out to try to stop Ch'ng from leaving the scene, the 33-year-old continued to punch the student in the face and also kicked him in the stomach.

Ch'ng fled before police arrived at the carpark at Block 131, Jurong Gateway Road on Dec 14, 2013.

Mr Lim was taken by ambulance to the National University Hospital, where he was treated for cuts on his forehead and given three days of sick leave.

In court yesterday morning, Ch'ng pleaded guilty to voluntarily causing hurt.

Assistant Public Prosecutor Daniel Marini urged the court to put Ch'ng in jail for between one and three months, in line with the "usual benchmark for road rage cases".

Mr Marini said there was "no place on our roads for road bullies".

Ch'ng had previously served 15 months in jail for voluntarily causing hurt and for the unlawful possession of a weapon.

In mitigation, defence lawyer Steven Lam told the court that Ch'ng is his family's sole breadwinner and pleaded for a fine or two-week jail term.

Mr Lam told the court the incident was sparked after Mr Lim made an illegal U-turn. Mr Lim also raised his middle finger at Ch'ng instead of apologising, and said both parties exchanged blows.

The defence lawyer said his client co-operated fully with the authorities and offered $1,000 in compensation to Mr Lim.

In passing sentence, the judge said that "violence on the road will not be tolerated".

For voluntarily causing hurt, Ch'ng could have been jailed for up to two years and fined up to $5,000.

This article by The Straits Times was published in MyPaper, a free, bilingual newspaper published by Singapore Press Holdings.

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