A 50-year-old housewife, Jessinta Tan Suat Lin, pleaded guilty to multiple charges including assaulting her neighbour, making threats against her family, and committing a rash act that endangered safety.
The incidents occurred at their shared residential development, Westmont, along West Coast Road.
According to CNA, the confrontation began on February 16, 2024, when Tan became frustrated with the noise made by her 26-year-old neighbour, a master’s degree student, who was jumping rope in a common area near the development’s swimming pool.
Despite her request for the victim to stop exercising, the woman continued her routine while wearing earphones. Tan, feeling disturbed as her son wanted to rest, resorted to throwing vulgarities at the victim before escalating the situation.
In a fit of rage, Tan hurled five to six eggs from her window, some of which struck the victim.
Not satisfied, she armed herself with a mop and confronted the younger woman again.
A scuffle ensued, during which Tan bit the victim’s arm. Despite the victim’s attempts to defend herself, Tan struck her on the head multiple times with the mop, causing severe injuries that required stitches.
According to DPP Zhou Yang, the aluminium pole of the mob broke into three pieces.
The victim was subsequently hospitalized but released the same day with antibiotics.
Following the assault, she moved out of the development due to safety concerns, the report added.
Tan was arrested and later released on bail of S$2,000, with her husband acting as her bailor.
However, tensions continued at home. On April 28, 2024, following an argument with her husband over parenting styles, Tan sent him a threatening text message stating she would jump bail, which would cause him to lose the S$2,000 security he had provided.
According to Straits Times, at approximately 8:45 PM on April 28, 2024, she sent a text message to her husband using vulgar language, stating: “I’ll jump bail next month.”
Less than an hour later, around 9:35 PM, she told their son: “I will just kill him one day. He might just die one day in his sleep. One day, when I am really mad, he will die in his sleep. He better lock his door when he sleeps at night.”
Later that evening, she threatened her husband, claiming she would report to the police that he had raped her. In response, he filed a police report against Tan regarding her threats.
During the court proceedings, District Judge Crystal Goh ordered Tan to undergo an assessment at the Institute of Mental Health to determine her suitability for a mandatory treatment order (MTO), which could provide her with psychiatric treatment without leaving a criminal record upon completion.
Tan’s lawyer, Mr. Shiever R, argued that she suffered from mixed anxiety-depressive disorder and had been diagnosed with intermittent explosive disorder. He contended that her actions were isolated incidents stemming from her mental health issues and expressed her remorse, noting her willingness to apologize and compensate the victim.
The prosecution, however, countered that the medical reports did not establish a direct link between Tan’s mental health issues and her criminal behavior. They highlighted the absence of any psychiatric help sought by Tan after the assault on her neighbour, coupled with her reoffending against her husband.
Tan remains on bail of S$10,000 and is set to be sentenced on February 11, 2024.
The charges she faces carry potential penalties including imprisonment, fines, or both, with the most serious charge of voluntarily causing hurt potentially leading to up to three years in prison.
Image via google for illustration
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