SINGAPORE: An elderly Ferrari driver was on Friday (Mar 16) sentenced to four weeks’ jail and disqualified from driving for six months, for punching another driver along Telok Ayer Street in 2014.
Shi Ka Yee, 72, was found guilty of assault in August last year.
During the incident, which happened on Feb 25, 2014, she honked and yelled at Mr Raphael Chong, whose BMW she thought was in her way, before getting out of her car and reaching through the open window of the man’s car to punch him in the face.
Shi fled the scene before the police arrived, despite claiming that Mr Chong had not left enough space for her Ferrari to pass.
After she was convicted, Shi claimed she was suffering from depression at the time, and that her mental state had contributed to her committing the offence.
The woman refused to be assessed by the Institute of Mental Health. Instead, she put her private psychiatrist Dr Pauline Sim Li Ping on the stand.
AdvertisementAdvertisementDr Sim, who is a consultant psychiatrist at Mount Elizabeth Medical Centre, said Shi was diagnosed with depression in 2009. While District Judge Chay Yuen Fatt accepted that Shi does indeed suffer from depression, he found that it did not contribute to the case of road rage.
In seeking a four-week jail sentence on Friday, Deputy Public Prosecutor Zhuo Wenzhao pointed out that Shi’s depression “is not serious”.
Dr Sim had testified that out of the nine symptoms of depression, at least six were not exhibited by Shi. The psychiatrist had also admitted that Shi did not suffer any kind of impairment as a result of her depression, the prosecutor noted.
Urging the court to punish Shi with a jail term rather than a fine, the prosecutor pointed to the woman’s “glaring lack of remorse” and “her making of false allegations against the victim”.
For example, when asked at trial if she thought her assault on Mr Chong was justified, Shi replied “yes, two yeses”.
She had also accused Mr Chong of spewing vulgarities at her, an allegation refuted by a passer-by who witnessed the incident and offered help, which Shi refused.
Shi’s lawyer Irving Choh said his client will appeal against her conviction and sentence. He had called for a fine of S$4,000 to S$5,000.
Shi is on bail of S$16,000 pending the hearing of her appeal.
MORE CHARGES FOR DRINK DRIVING
Shi faces eight more charges unrelated to the Telok Ayer incident, including two charges she racked up days before her sentencing on Friday.
She was charged on Monday with drink driving and with refusing to take a breathalyzer test when stopped by the traffic police outside the Grand Hyatt Hotel in the early hours of Feb 1.
According to court documents, Shi’s blood alcohol level was 103 milligrammes per 100 millilitres of blood, above the prescribed limit of 80 milligrammes.
She is expected to plead guilty to the two charges on Apr 4.
RAINTREE DISPUTE AT ASTRID HILL
The other six charges include some for harassing her neighbour, Mr Nasrat Lucas Muzayyin, and trespassing on his property.
The incident on Feb 17, 2015 involved a raintree on Shi’s property at 12 Astrid Hill. Its branches hung over the Muzayyins’ property next door.
When Mr Muzayyin hired an arborist to trim the tree’s branches, Shi allegedly told him: “You cut my tree, my tree is living thing, I hope your kids die (sic).”
Shi then removed the key from the ignition of the arborist’s cherry picker, leaving the man stranded up on the raintree for an hour.
To stop Shi from getting away, Mr Muzayyin stood in front of her Porsche as she prepared to drive off, but this did not stop her. Instead, Shi revved her engine and edged her car towards him.
The neighbours’ dispute ended up before the High Court after Mr Muzayyin sued Shi “for the nuisance of her ever-growing raintree”, for trespass onto his land and for assault, because Shi had put him “in fear of injury”.
Mr Muzayyin won, and Shi was ordered to pay thousands in damages. Her appeal was later blocked by the High Court.
Justice Choo Han Teck had said: “There is no merit in letting this case incur any more court time when cases with greater social issues are waiting in line.”
Shi was subsequently slapped with criminal charges relating to the incident.
She faces another two charges for allegedly stopping her car in the middle of Orchard Road - bringing traffic to a halt - to tell another driver to “return to China”.
These charges will be dealt with separately at a later date.
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