Man jailed for beating up cabby

Man jailed for beating up cabby

SINGAPORE - A 61-year-old man was jailed 14 days for beating up a taxi driver.

Lee Kia Chew, alias Yap Kia Chew, pleaded guilty yesterday to voluntarily hurting cabby Kok Lee Long, 49, almost two years ago.

The cabby was treated for left blunt eye trauma and given seven days' medical leave.

Lee and his friend had boarded Mr Kok's taxi at 3.30am outside Lee's workplace at Pebbles KTV Club at Aliwal Street on July 15, 2012.

Mr Kok was told to go to Hougang Avenue 10, and then to Sengkang.

Nearing Hougang, Lee became unhappy and claimed Mr Kok had taken a longer route.

Mr Kok told him that if he was unhappy, he could complain to the taxi company.

Before alighting, Lee started to punch the left side of the victim's face repeatedly.

Lee's friend joined in, punching the left side of the victim's body.

Lee's lawyer Raphael Louis said in mitigation that his client was "rationally composed despite the victim's provoking remarks".

Mr Louis said Lee was "provoked and insulted by the victim's continuous grumbles against him and thus hit him in the heat of the moment".

Lee could have been jailed up to two years and/or fined up to $5,000 for voluntarily causing hurt.


This article was first published on May 23, 2014.
Get The New Paper for more stories.

This website is best viewed using the latest versions of web browsers.