After receiving a jail term of five weeks for road rage, the driver of a BMW filed an appeal against it with the High Court.
He wanted a lower jail term or a fine instead, Channel NewsAsia (CNA) reports.
However, the High Court denied his appeal and countered it with a nine-month driving ban and a seven-week jail sentence.
According to CNA, 46-year-old Haleem Bathusa Abdul Rahim was driving the BMW down Bukit Timah Expressway towards his residence at Hillview Rise in the early hours of 1 Feb 2020.
Source: Yelp
He swerved out of his lane in front of another car after he exited the expressway, to which the victim sounded his horn.
Both individuals then had a verbal confrontation before they alighted near Haleem’s house. Haleem proceeded to assault the victim, punching him twice, hitting him thrice, and kicking him once.
The victim stood up and attempted to retreat, but Haleem hit him again, resulting in him losing his balance.
Haleem then fled the scene, driving away after a taxi driver arrived at the area.
A district judge charged him for voluntarily causing hurt, sentencing him to five weeks’ jail. Haleem appealed the sentencing, stating that the prosecution did not prove if he caused the victim hurt.
In the appeal, he sought to reduce his punishment to a fine or three weeks’ jail.
Justice Vincent Hoong heard the appeal in the High Court, CNA reports. He increased Haleem’s earlier jail term from five weeks to seven weeks.
Labelling it a road rage case, he said the district judge had not sufficiently considered Haleem’s behaviour after carrying out the assault.
Haleem had chosen to flee the scene despite protests from both the victim and taxi driver to avoid identification.
Throughout the one-sided offence, he was aggressive. In addition, he had a history of non-compliance with traffic regulations and failed to acknowledge his culpability.
Back in 2012, authorities detected him smelling strongly of alcohol while driving. He did not provide a breath specimen, acted aggressively and had to be arrested.
Furthermore, Haleem had numerous compounded offences under his belt for speeding in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2006, 2010, and 2020.
Faced with closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage, Haleem tried making the victim out to be a liar, creating a version of events where the victim subjected him to an assault instead.
Justice Hoong ultimately imposed the nine-month driving ban, stating that Haleem’s post-offence behaviour and “chequered history of non-compliance with traffic regulations” made it “undesirable” for him to drive a motor vehicle.
He added that for those who file appeals against their sentences, the High Court would consider “enhancing sentence in cases of plainly unmeritorious appeals”.
This will occur even in the absence of a cross-appeal by the prosecution.
For additional traffic charges, Haleem is currently pending trial.
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