Man who smashed lift glass panels due to 'evil spirits' given mandatory treatment order
A man who shattered the glass panels of the lifts in his neighbourhood, believing them to harbour evil spirits, was sentenced to 24 months’ mandatory treatment order on Thursday (31 January).
Lim Beng Wei would be given psychiatric treatment under the MTO instead of doing jail time. His lawyer, Lim Yong, had earlier told the court that his client suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and often believes that people are trying to harm him.
Lim, a 55-year-old Singaporean, admitted to one count of using a hammer to smash the glass panels and one count of unlawfully possessing a dangerous weapon. Four other similar charges were considered for his sentencing.
On 22 August, Lim went to several lifts in Blk 16 and Blk 17 Eunos Crescent at about 1am with a hammer. He smashed seven glass panels, which cost $3,150 in total to replace. Lim resided at one of the blocks.
Two days later, a person made a police report, stating that an individual in a white T-shirt and shorts kept pressing a lift and making knocking noises in the lift at Blk 16 Eunos Crescent. The police arrived eight hours later and found smashed glass panels at some lifts.
CCTV footage captured Lim leaving the block at about 1.30am with a hammer. Lim was arrested the next day.
Lim said he had to smash the glass panels due to the presence of evil spirits in them. He threw the hammer into a rubbish chute after committing the offences.
According to his lawyer, Lim used to be a leading steward at Singapore Airlines (SIA) but lost his job shortly after being diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. He was unable to hold subsequent jobs for long due to the side effects of the medication he took for his mental illness.
Lim currently works as a part-time service crew member in a restaurant.
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