In November last year, a man tried to help his drunk female friend flag down a taxi past midnight at Clarke Quay.
Frustrated at her repeated refusal to go home with him, he grabbed her by the upper arms and swung her onto the ground before returning to the club they came from.
Passers-by helped the victim get home, where she allegedly went to sleep. She was later found dead in her bed.
On Tuesday (19 Dec), the accused pleaded guilty to one count of voluntarily causing grievous hurt.
On the night of 5 Nov 2022, 33-year-old Jason Ong was at Club VOX in Clarke Quay when he met his friend, whom court documents referred to as “Joey”.
Joey, also 33, had gone to the club for drinks with three friends at about 10.15pm.
According to The Straits Times (ST), Ong and Joey agreed to leave the club together at around 1.20am on 6 Nov.
Source: Google Maps
Joey was reportedly drunk and was dragging her feet and mumbling.
Ong attempted to book a Grab ride for the both of them but could not get one.
In drizzling rain, the two also failed to find a ride at the taxi stand on Magazine Road.
As such, they headed for the nearby Merchant Road in hopes of flagging one down, TODAY reported.
The intoxicated Joey then suddenly squatted down and refused to get up. This angered Ong, who then threw her phone onto a grass patch.
Ong later apologised for his actions when they arrived at Raffles’ Education Square on Merchant Road.
However, Joey was not happy and pushed Ong away, repeatedly refusing his offer to take her home.
In further frustration, Ong grabbed the petite Joey by her upper arms and swung her violently onto the ground.
According to CCTV footage, he did it so violently that Joey’s body flipped over mid-fall.
Channel NewsAsia (CNA) added that Ong himself lost his balance and landed on his knees.
The victim fell on her back on the concrete and stopped moving, but Ong returned to the club instead of checking on her.
At around 2am, passers-by found Joey and took her to a sheltered walkway. She did not respond when spoken to.
One of them, a Grab driver, picked up her ringing phone and spoke to a friend of Joey’s. He then drove Joey home for S$50, staying on the call the whole time.
TODAY reported that the victim “occasionally made vomiting and grunting sounds” and had her eyes closed throughout the ride.
The driver then took Joey up to her flat where her helper cleaned her up, changed her clothes, and left her on the bed to sleep.
Joey’s husband returned home at 3.30am, finding his wife snoring in bed.
He alleged that the next morning, she was still snoring when he left for lunch at 12.30pm.
However, when he returned at 3pm, he found Joey’s eyes open and her body cold to the touch.
The deceased’s husband called emergency services and performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on her to no avail.
Paramedics later arrived and pronounced her dead at 3.33pm.
An autopsy found that Joey had suffered a skull fracture, a brain bruise, multiple blood clots in her head, and a fractured rib. The cause of death was determined to be a head injury.
On 8 Nov 2022, Ong travelled to Bangkok, Thailand as he was “stressed out” by the calls he was getting from the police and his friends about Joey.
Police arrested him upon his return to Singapore on 11 Nov 2022.
During the investigation, he confessed to swinging Joey out of frustration.
The ultimately fatal action captured on CCTV showed Joey landing on her right side, which was in line with her injuries.
In court on Tuesday (19 Dec), Ong pleaded guilty to one count of voluntarily causing grievous hurt.
The prosecution sought 36 to 42 months’ jail, citing Joey’s vulnerability due to being drunk and possessing a smaller stature than Ong.
CNA noted that she was 164cm tall and weighed 51kg.
However, the prosecution also acknowledged Ong’s remorse and cooperation with police investigations.
Ong will return to court for sentencing on 16 Jan 2024. For his crime, he could receive up to five years’ jail or a fine of up to S$10,000 or both.
Also read: S’pore Father Fractures Skulls Of Baby Daughter & Toddler Son, Gets 10 Years’ Jail
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Featured image adapted from Google Maps, for illustration purposes only.
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