PMD rider jailed for breaking pedestrian’s ribs in assault after illegally riding on footpath

• Yeo Kian Heng was riding his personal mobility device with his 10-year-old son on it
• He told Mr Loo Chuan Jye, who was walking on the footpath with his wife, that it was “not his father’s road”
• Yeo then assaulted Mr Loo and tried to hit his wife
• He had drunk two bottles of beer before the confrontation

SINGAPORE — Even though his own 10-year-old son tried to step in, Yeo Kian Heng continued punching a pedestrian and stepping on his lower torso, leaving him with rib fractures.

Yeo, who was illegally riding his personal mobility device (PMD) on a footpath, then fled. He also tried to hit the victim’s wife but failed.

For this attack on Feb 1 last year, the 57-year-old Singaporean was sentenced on Thursday (March 11) to a jail term of 13 months, two weeks and one day, and a fine of S$500.

He pleaded guilty to one charge each of causing grievous hurt to Mr Loo Chuan Jye, using criminal force on Ms Fu Shi Ting, and riding his PMD along a footpath, an activity that has been banned since November 2019.

The court heard that Mr Loo and Ms Fu were walking home along Woodlands Avenue 7 around 8.30pm that day when Yeo approached them from behind and sounded his horn.

When the couple turned around, they noticed him riding his PMD while his son sat at the front.

Yeo rode past them and told Mr Loo it was “not his father’s road”. He then stopped and left his PMD on a grass patch before walking over to the couple. His son tried to pull him back to no avail.

He punched Mr Loo on the jaw, causing the other man to fall. Yeo continued raining punches on him, then stepped on his ribs and groin area.

Seeing this, Ms Fu called the police while Yeo’s son pleaded with her not to do so.

Yeo then fled and Ms Fu and the boy gave chase. She stopped after a while and the boy again asked her not to call the authorities, but she told him that his father had to take responsibility for his actions.

Yeo then approached them, swung his fists at her and kicked in her direction. She managed to dodge him and fled back to her husband.

Yeo rode away on his PMD and was later identified. He admitted to drinking two bottles of beer before the incident and was “feeling high” from the alcohol, Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Emily Koh told the court.

The couple were taken to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital in an ambulance. Mr Loo was given seven days of hospitalisation leave after being diagnosed with two broken ribs, a minor head injury and contusion.

'FORTUITOUS THAT SURGERY NOT NEEDED'

DPP Koh listed some aggravating factors in asking for 16 months and one day of jail, noting that Yeo had been the aggressor and that he had been convicted of a similar offence, of causing grievous hurt, in 2006. He was jailed for two years and given six strokes of the cane then.

In mitigation, Yeo’s lawyer — Mr Eugene Neo from TSMP Law Corporation — argued on his client’s instructions that Mr Loo had taken out his mobile phone to take photographs of Yeo and his son before the confrontation.

“My client was concerned with what would be done, especially when his son’s photos were taken. His sole objection was to get him to delete them and he wanted to snatch the phone back. It was all spur of the moment and they engaged in a brawl,” Mr Neo said.

The lawyer also said that Yeo had consumed his first bottle of beer at 5pm, then the second one at 6pm, before heading to his sister’s home to pick up his son. This meant that he last drank two hours before the incident.

However, District Judge Janet Wang said she was “not persuaded” that Mr Loo’s retrieval of his mobile phone was an “act of provocation”, as Yeo had already confronted him.

“It was fortuitous that (Mr Loo’s injuries), while serious, did not require extensive surgical intervention,” the judge added.

Yeo will begin serving his sentence on March 26 in order to give him time to settle family and job matters.

For causing grievous hurt, he could have been jailed for up to 10 years and fined. The offence carries the possibility of caning but those aged 50 or above cannot be caned by law.

For using criminal force, he could have been jailed for up to three months or fined up to S$1,500, or both.

For riding his PMD on a footpath under the Active Mobility Act 2017, he could have been jailed for up to three months or fined up to S$2,000, or both.

An earlier version of this report stated that Mr Loo had scolded Yeo by saying it was not his father’s road. This is incorrect. Yeo was the one who had said this to Mr Loo. We apologise for the error.