Driver Injures Security Guard With Shove At United Square, Sentenced To 6 Weeks’ Jail
In November 2021, Wang Lin, a 42-year-old Permanent Resident (PR) from China, shoved a security guard at United Square Shopping Mall.
The victim had reportedly stopped Wang from entering a taxi lane, causing Wang to exit his vehicle and assault him.
As a result, the security guard suffered a wrist fracture and ligament injury.
On Monday (28 Aug), Wang was sentenced to six weeks in jail for voluntarily causing hurt.
Man shoved victim at United Square
According to Channel NewsAsia (CNA), the incident took place at United Square Shopping Mall on 6 Nov 2021, a rainy day.
Source: Google Maps
The victim, 56-year-old Prakash Govindan Damodaran, was a security guard directing traffic at the mall.
Wang attempted to drive into a taxi drop-off point in the mall with his BMW X5 to pick up his family.
Mr Prakash then stopped Wang as he was not allowed to enter the taxi lane.
Instead, he told Wang to drive into the mall carpark to pick up his wife and child. Since there was a 30-minute grace period, Wang would not have to pay fees for doing so.
Apparently unhappy with the suggestion, Wang exited his car and shoved the security guard, who fell over and sustained injuries.
The attacker’s wife pulled him away and they drove off.
Doctors diagnosed the victim with a left wrist fracture and a ligament injury in his thumb. He required a thumb splint and rehabilitative therapy.
Source: Union of Security Employees on Facebook
Rainy weather partly to blame for incident, says lawyer
Wang pleaded guilty to one charge of voluntarily causing hurt. United Square CCTV cameras captured the incident, which was played in court.
The prosecutor stated that Wang was the aggressor who “reacted disproportionately” against the victim. Thus, the prosecutor sought six weeks’ jail for the crime.
Wang’s lawyer S S Dhillon, on the other hand, argued that Wang was anxious to stop at a sheltered portion of the mall as he did not want his wife and child to get drenched in the rain.
Furthermore, Mr Dhillon alleged that the victim had shouted at Wang and struck the front of his car.
The Straits Times (ST) reported that the force was so great that Wang “could feel the vibration of the impact from the inside of his car”.
However, the prosecution rebutted that there was no evidence of any damage to Wang’s car.
The defence also contended that the rainy day contributed to the injuries sustained by the victim.
He claimed that Wang was not “a criminally inclined person”, and in fact was active in charity work for developing countries.
Defence claimed Wang suffered trauma from hate comments
On top of that, Mr Dhillon claimed that the negative reactions his client received from the incident caused him “tremendous trauma”.
The victim’s union, the Union of Security Employees (USE), has posted about the incident on Facebook.
The post sparked anger against Wang, who was also accused of being a bully.
Mr Dhillon pointed out that the negative publicity has “completely paralysed Wang Lin” and painted him “as a rich and powerful brat”.
“He has unduly suffered in the court of public opinion and his character has been defiled,” the lawyer said.
Mr Dhillon added that Wang suffered from depression and schizophrenia-like symptoms from the incident.
With these mitigating factors, the defence sought four weeks’ jail instead.
In the end, the judge decided that the mitigating factors such as being anxious to pick up his wife were not sufficient and sentenced Wang to six weeks’ jail for his crime.
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Featured image adapted from USE on Facebook and Google Maps.
