Man, 53, jailed for throwing flower pots from 15th floor of Telok Blangah flat ‘in fit of rage’

SINGAPORE — Angry that his father had locked him out of the house after he returned home drunk, a 53-year-old man showed his displeasure by throwing two flower pots belonging to the older man from the 15th floor of his Housing and Development Board flat.

On Thursday (June 3), Goh Tiong Keng pleaded guilty to one charge of committing a rash act that endangers human life and was jailed for four weeks.

A second charge of appearing drunk outside his father’s house, and causing annoyance to the 73-year-old, was taken into consideration for the younger man’s sentencing.

The court heard that the incident happened before 10pm on Nov 5 last year when Goh returned to his father's flat in Telok Blangah Heights after consuming two bottles of Tiger beer. 

A toxicology report from the Health Sciences Authority found that Goh had a high degree of ethanol in his blood, an indication that he was intoxicated, Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Krystle Chiang said.

Goh’s defence lawyer, Mr Periowsamy Otharam, said that his client had been living at the same flat with his father since his birth. Goh’s mother was no longer living with them.  

Upon returning to his family home that evening, Goh found that his father had padlocked the gate to the house and there was no way he could enter.

When Goh tried to get his father to let him in by knocking on the door and ringing the doorbell, the older man called the police on his son. 

While it was not clearly stated why the father would not let his son in, court documents showed that in one of the logged calls that the older man made to the police, he said: “I called earlier, and police attended to me. However, after police left, my son returned and caused nuisance again. He is drunk.”

Court document stated that when the police arrived, they advised Goh to leave the scene before they left. 

Goh, however, did not heed this advice and remained outside his father’s house and, by this time, had already grown frustrated with his father. 

This caused Goh to throw two of his father’s flower pots off the flat’s parapet “in a fit of rage”, DPP Chiang said. She sought the sentence given.

While no one was injured by the pots, a witness said that he heard a loud sound, which prompted him to call the police to report a case of killer litter. 

In pleading for a lighter sentence for his client, Mr Otharam said that his client regrets what he has done and highlighted that he was a good citizen who took it upon himself to look after his older father who has a “cranky” temperament.

For committing a rash act that endangers human life, Goh could have been jailed for six months or fined up to S$2,500, or both.