Man jailed 8 weeks for fighting with security guard, assaulting cabby
He got into a fight with a security guard at a mall in Choa Chu Kang in March last year and the incident was captured in a video that went viral.
Feeling upset over the video, Kester Tay Jun Wen drank heavily to forget his woes later in the same month. After drinking, Tay was involved in another scuffle when he attacked a cabby.
Tay, 25, was jailed eight weeks in the State Courts on Tuesday (2 January) after admitting to one count of fighting in a public place with security guard Krishna Esvarna Mohanlal Malu, 32, and one count of voluntarily causing hurt to taxi driver Lee Nyen, 63.
On 6 March 2017, Tay got into an altercation with Krishna while he and several colleagues were promoting slimming treatment vouchers at Lot One Shoppers’ Mall. Krishna told Tay to promote his vouchers inside the mall instead of at the entrance.
They then got into a fight, with Krishna throwing the first punch at Tay’s face. Both of them claimed that the other party had instigated the fight with vulgarities and spitting.
According to Tay’s lawyer Shaneet Rai, Tay and his colleagues had permission from the mall’s management to sell the vouchers at the courtyard near the entrance. Tay had tried to explain to Krishna that he could sell at the location, the lawyer said.
The duo were eventually stopped by another security guard and they were arrested for affray. Krishna will be dealt with by the courts separately.
A video of the fight was captured by a member of the public and uploaded on social media.
In the other incident, Tay was drinking with a group of friends at a club in Clarke Quay on 18 March 2017, according to Rai. The group had bought three bottles of Martell brandy and Tay drank significantly more than usual as he was troubled by the viral video, the lawyer said.
After drinking with his friends for several hours, Tay and a friend took Lee’s taxi at Marina Square.
Lee dropped off Tay’s friend and drove to Edgefield Walk, Tay’s destination. Tay clocked up a $35.50 cab fare for the ride, but he handed only a $5 note.
Lee rejected the note, saying that the fare was more than $5. Instead of paying, however, Tay left the cab, prompting Lee to alight and confront him at an HDB void deck nearby.
Tay then started punching Lee on his head, causing Lee to fall. He also sat on Lee and continued raining blows on him.
The commotion attracted the attention of another man who came to Lee’s aid. By the time the man reached the scene, Tay had left and Lee called the police.
While waiting for the police, Tay returned and advanced towards Lee. The man noted that Tay was drunk and intervened, leading to a scuffle between the three men. Tay’s father arrived shortly after and restrained his son. Tay was arrested after the police arrived at the scene.
Lee suffered abrasions and swellings on his forehead and bruises on his face.
For causing hurt, Tay could have been jailed for up to two years and/or fined up to $5,000. He could have been jailed up to a year and/or fined a maximum $5,000 for affray.
