Between February and April this year, a man threw several beer bottles from his seventh floor flat in Jurong West.
The bottles shattered upon impact, but fortunately, there were no reported injuries.
On Tuesday (13 Dec), 58-year-old Lim Lye Choon pleaded guilty to a rash act endangering the safety of others and was sentenced to 15 weeks’ jail.
According to Channel NewsAsia (CNA), Lim threw beer bottles from his seventh floor flat at Block 524 Jurong West Street 52.
Source: Google Maps
He threw a total of 13 bottles between February and April this year.
A person filed a police report on 17 Feb stating that someone was throwing beer bottles from one of the floors in the block.
The bottle was thrown down while the person was standing under a sheltered walkway waiting for transport to work. It shattered when it hit the ground.
Another neighbour also shared that there were seven occasions where glass bottles were thrown down from the unit above.
After joint investigations by the police and the National Environment Agency (NEA), they managed to identify Lim as the culprit.
When police interviewed him, he admitted to throwing the bottles down from his flat.
Lim explained that he found it difficult to use one hand to open the dustbin underneath his sink while discarding the bottles at the same time.
He did not think of bringing the bottles downstairs to throw them away.
In court, the prosecutor sought four to six months’ jail for Lim.
He stated that all of the bottles that Lim threw shattered upon impact, which could have hurt others.
Furthermore, Lim’s actions inconvenienced cleaners in the area, who had to clear the glass debris.
On the other hand, the prosecutor acknowledged that Lim only wanted to throw away the bottles, and there was no evidence of malicious intent.
In mitigation, Lim said that he suffers from polio, a medical condition that affects his hands and legs.
“I can throw light objects with one hand. I only have the left hand which has the strength to open the cover of the dustbin,” he explained.
After his flat was renovated under HDB’s Home Improvement Programme (HIP), the cover of his dustbin had a spring and would close by itself.
This made it challenging for him to throw rubbish, he added.
Although the court empathises with his condition, it cannot be an excuse for his actions, the judge said.
While the main principle in sentencing killer litter cases is general deterrence, Lim’s offences in this case were grave since he did it 13 times.
In the end, Lim was jailed 15 weeks after pleading guilty to a charge of a rash act endangering the personal safety of others.
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