Woman jailed for threatening social worker with 2 knives over child access
When her son was born in October last year, Neo Mui Liang was deemed unfit by social workers to care for him.
Neo, who has a history of psychiatric disorders, had her son taken away when he was one month old. The divorced mother was given supervised access once a week, which caused her severe stress, according to her lawyer.
Earlier this year, angered that she was not allowed to see her son on the day of a scheduled visit, Neo confronted a social worker, Joanne Tan Pei Yue, with a knife in one hand and a chopper in the other.
For criminal intimidation with the intent to cause death and possession of two offensive weapons in a public place, Neo, a 46-year-old mother of two, was sentenced to six months’ jail in the State Courts on Tuesday (30 May). She was convicted on one count for each offence, with a separate charge under the Protection of Harassment Act taken into consideration for sentencing.
Neo also has a 16-year-old daughter from her previous marriage who is living in a Girl’s Home. Neo’s son is with her current boyfriend.
The court heard that on 12 October 2016, staff from the National University Hospital informed the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) that Neo had given birth to a boy but was assessed not to be capable of taking care of him.
MSF took over custody of the child a month after he was born and placed him in foster care. Neo was given supervised access to her son every Friday from 4pm to 5pm.
However, on 24 February 2017 (Friday), Neo was denied access to her son due to her emotionally unstable state after she had an argument with her boyfriend. MSF had received information of Neo’s condition that morning and was concerned for the child’s safety.
A child protection officer from the MSF called Neo that morning to tell her that supervised access to her son that day was cancelled.
Upset by the cancellation, Neo decided to confront Tan, the social worker responsible for her case, as she blamed Tan for the cancellation, said Deputy Public Prosecutor Joshua Jeyaraj.
Neo then took a chopper and a knife from her kitchen and placed them in her pockets, with the intention to confront Tan at her office. Neo’s boyfriend saw her taking the knives and tried to stop her several times, but failed.
Upon reaching the office at 12pm, Neo took out the knife and held it against her own neck in her right hand. With the chopper in her other hand, she approached a counter officer and demanded to see Tan. In response, staff triggered the alarm in the building.
Alerted by the alarm and hearing a colleague mention the phrase “she has a knife”, Tan looked down to the lobby and saw what was happening. She alerted the police before going to the lobby to engage Tan. An altercation followed when Neo spotted Tan.
According to one of the charge sheets, Neo had said to Tan, “You all think my knife not sharp” and slit her own left wrist.
Neo then approached Tan and held the chopper against the social worker’s neck. Tan was able to push Neo’s hand away and managed to restrain Neo with the help of other staff. The social worker managed to disarm Neo during the struggle.
Neo, who has been diagnosed with a string of psychiatric disorders, including antisocial personality disorder and depression, was jailed for rioting in 1992 and drug-related offences previously.
In mitigation, Neo’s lawyer Genesis Shen Luda said that Neo’s “physical and emotional separation from her son had caused severe stress and hardship” to her.
He said that MSF’s call on the day of the incident occurred in an “inopportune moment”, just as Neo was feeling stressed and upset from a dispute with her boyfriend.
“In the heat of the moment, [Neo] had taken the offensive weapons to the [office] with the primary intention of compelling MSF to allow her to see her son, and not with the primary intention of causing hurt or intimidation to any other person,” said Shen.
He added that Neo had used the knife on herself instead of others and had held the blunt edge of the chopper blade against Tan with no intention to hurt her. The lawyer asked for a five-month jail sentence.
In sentencing Neo, District Judge May Mesenas said that Neo was clearly not in the “proper state of mind” to see her child if she was so “emotionally charged”.
“[The social workers] are not taking away your child because they want to, you need to understand that,” said the DJ, adding that the child was only being kept away temporarily in her interest.
For criminal intimidation with the intention to cause death, Neo could have been jailed for up to seven years and/or fined. For possessing two offensive weapons in a public place, Neo could have been jailed up to three years and caned at least six strokes.
