Man who knocked out student outside secondary school jailed two weeks
A man who punched a 16-year-old student outside his secondary school and left him in an unconscious state was jailed for two weeks on Wednesday (8 November).
Willie Lee Jia Xing, a 23-year-old Singaporean, had pleaded guilty to one charge of voluntarily causing hurt at the State Courts earlier.
The court heard that Lee knew about the victim from a female friend, who was the victim’s classmate. The female friend told Lee on 11 April this year that she had a dispute with the victim, who cannot be named due to a gag order.
On the same day at about 2pm, Lee went down to the secondary school at Hougang to confront the victim. Lee was waiting in a van nearby and when the victim was leaving in the school, the van pulled up by the side of the road.
A struggle between Lee and the student ensued. Lee then punched him in the head and upper body several times until he was unconscious, before fleeing the scene in the van.
The victim was found by his friends and teacher lying unconscious on the ground and bleeding from his head. The teacher then called the police and asked for an ambulance, which conveyed the victim to KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital where he was found to have sustained a 1cm laceration on his forehead and some abrasions on his ear.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Claire Poh urged the court to impose a three-week sentence on Lee.
“Students and parents should feel protected in school… but (Lee) delivered a knockout blow to the victim who was coming out of school,” DPP Poh said.
“He punched the victim multiple times in a sensitive area – which was the face – and left victim on the ground. It was fortunate that no serious injury occurred.”
DPP Poh also said that Lee has a history of convictions. In 2006, he was sent to a juvenile home for 24 months for committing theft, while in 2011, he was given probation after being convicted of five moneylending-related charges. He breached probation in 2012, and was sentenced to undergo reformative training.
In 2016, Lee was caught driving without license. He was fined $1,000 and disqualified from obtaining a driver’s license for 12 months.
In his mitigation, the unrepresented Lee said that he had no intention to cause hurt to the victim and only wanted to speak to him. However, DPP Poh replied that Lee’s actions cannot be condoned.
Before meting out his sentence, District Judge Eddy Tham said, “The victim is only 16 years old. You took it upon yourself to champion for your friend… this kind of behaviour must be strongly deterred.”
