SINGAPORE: Two drunk men who wrecked a porridge restaurant in Upper Serangoon were sentenced to six weeks' jail on Thursday (May 3).
A woman who accompanied them and was also involved in the ruckus was sentenced to four weeks in jail, discounting the two weeks that she was remanded at the Institute of Mental Health.
The court heard that the trio, Tan Sung Meng, 47, Ang Sim Poh, 49, and Pang Pei Pei, 41, went to Heng Long Teochew Porridge in the wee hours of May 27 last year for supper after having some drinks.
They had met between 4pm and 5pm the previous day at Yio Chu Kang Chinese Association to drink beer, chit-chat and play mobile phone games, the court heard. At about 1am, they went to a pub in Chinatown and downed a bottle of liquor before heading to the porridge restaurant about two hours later.
Things went south when it came time for the three, who were regulars at the restaurant, to pay the bill of S$28. Pang repeatedly asked why the food cost so much and asked for a breakdown of the bill.
As Pang continued to question the waitress, who was working at the Upper Serangoon branch for the first time, she got "angrier and more agitated", according to court documents.
AdvertisementAdvertisementThis culminated in Pang hurling her bowl of porridge on the floor. Ang and Tan then threw wooden stools and other objects and smashed them into the food counter. Pang joined them.
The "violent rampage" went on for a minute before the trio stopped and walked off, said Deputy Public Prosecutor Lee Zu Zhao, who showed camera footage of the incident in court. He added that the damage and losses from the incident amounted to more than S$10,000.
The trio separately engaged lawyers to represent them. Their lawyers said in mitigation that the conduct and attitude of the waitress triggered the incident.
District Judge Chay Yuen Fatt, however, said that that was not a mitigating factor, and that the response of the trio was “disproportionate”.
Pang’s lawyer K Ravendran said in mitigation that his client has six children, of whom the youngest is just a year old. He also said she has been diagnosed with a medical condition called acute situational reaction.
The three lawyers sought a fine for their clients, while the prosecution sought eight weeks in jail.
For mischief with common intention, they could have been jailed up to two years and fined.
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