Man who punched parents when they refused to give him money gets 6 months' jail
The 22-year-old committed the recent offences despite being under a court order not to use violence against his parents. ST PHOTO: KELVIN CHNG
Man who punched parents when they refused to give him money gets 6 months' jail
SINGAPORE – Less than two years since being released from reformative training for assaulting his parents in 2021, a man went back to his old ways and punched them when they refused to give him money.
The 22-year-old committed the recent offences despite being under a court order not to use violence against his parents. Details of his previous offences against his parents were not mentioned in court.
On June 13, the man was sentenced to six months' jail after pleading guilty to criminal intimidation, voluntarily causing hurt, and breaching a personal protection order.
He cannot be named as his parents are covered under the Women's Charter, which restricts any information leading to their identification from being published.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Tan Pei Wei said that the man, who was unemployed, lived with his mother, 60, and his father, 59.
On the evening of April 14, while in the living room of their home, he asked his father for $5,000. When his father replied that he had no more money to give him, the man punched him on his shoulder and back, causing the older man pain.
When the mother, who heard the commotion in the living room, came out of the bedroom to find out what was happening, the man grabbed her shirt and demanded $5,000 from her. He punched her on the right ear when she told him she did not have any money.
The man then told his parents in Mandarin that if they did not give him money, he would beat them to death before jumping down a building.
Frightened of their son's threat, the couple left their home and called the police. The man was arrested on April 21.
Urging the court to impose a jail term of 5½ months to seven months, DPP Tan stressed that this case involved domestic violence, with crimes committed against the offender's own parents.
She added that the man had contravened the protection orders which his parents had against him by threatening them, further heightening his culpability.
In mitigation, the man, who was unrepresented, said he was remorseful and pleaded to the judge for leniency.
He added: 'I regret what I have done to my parents. I want to admit myself into a halfway house when I am out (of jail) to change myself.'
Those convicted of criminal intimidation by threatening to commit an offence punishable with death, can be jailed for up to 10 years, fined, or both.
For voluntarily causing hurt, an offender can be jailed for up to t hree years, fined up to $5,000, or both.
Nadine Chua is a crime and court journalist at The Straits Times.
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