SINGAPORE, Feb 23 — While running to catch a bus, a man with special needs bumped into a 76-year-old man, who hit his head on a metal railing and eventually died after falling into a coma at the hospital.
Looi Kai Ye, 37, who has been diagnosed with autism and bipolar disorder, was sentenced to eight months and one weeks’ jail after pleading guilty earlier to four charges. He was also handed a S$1,000 fine.
The court heard in January that psychological tests done on Looi indicated that his IQ was in the borderline range of intellectual functioning.
He had then pleaded guilty to a charge for causing grievous hurt with a rash act, a charge of voluntarily causing hurt by pushing a woman on the chest, a molestation charge and another charge of committing an obscene act.
Two other charges of committing an obscene act were taken into consideration for sentencing.
On Sept 5 last year, a man was walking with his wife along the pavement to a bus stop in Tampines.
Looi, who was looking to board a bus at the same bus stop, was running at “great speed” behind the man and his wife, the court heard in January.
He ran straight into the man and collided forcefully into his back to board the bus and did not stop to assist the man.
As a result of the force of his collision, the man’s head hit a metal railing along the pavement, and the incident was caught on a closed-circuit television camera at the bus stop.
The man was taken to Changi General Hospital, where his condition worsened and he fell into a coma. He died early the next day from a head injury.
Before this incident, in April last year, Looi pushed a woman in her 60s hard on the chest at a bank branch in Tampines, after perceiving her to be in his way as he was leaving the premises.
She fell backwards on the ground and momentarily lost consciousness. She suffered a tailbone fracture from the fall and superficial abrasions on her elbows and head injuries.
Other offences
On March 26 in 2021, Looi exited Pasir Ris MRT Station at around 8.20am and walked up to stand behind a woman in her 20s who was queueing at a food stall.
He then abruptly thrusted his groin at her back as he pushed against her.
The victim was shocked by the sudden physical contact and turned to see who had bumped into her as he tried to make another thrust.
Upon realising that the victim had seen him when she turned around, Looi immediately fled the scene and ran towards the bus interchange and boarded a bus after that.
A few days later on April 1, he stood at the corridor outside a flat in a public housing block and urinated on the apartment's floor through the locked gate when the front door was ajar.
He stopped and fled when a man inside the flat caught him in the act.
An assessment by Dr Sajith Sreedharan Geetha, a senior consultant psychiatrist at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH), stated that Looi’s mental conditions had “significant contributory links” to his molestation charge.
Dr Sajith also said that Looi's behaviour could be related to his “longstanding intense interest in women wearing leather clothing” and a tendency to behave in a “socially inappropriate and impulsive manner”.
He added that Looi was of sound mind at the time when he molested the woman.
A second assessment by Dr Cheow Enquan of IMH stated that Looi’s bipolar disorder appeared to have been “adequately treated” with psychiatric medication and he was not having a relapse of his bipolar disorder at the time of his collision with the deceased.
For causing grievous hurt by a rash act, Looi could have been jailed for up to four years or be fined up to S$10,000, or both.
Anyone who voluntarily causes hurt that causes grievous hurt can be jailed for up to five years or be fined up to S$10,000 or both.
The penalty for using criminal force to outrage the modesty of a person is a jail term of up to three years or a fine or caning, or any combination of these.
For committing an obscene act, Looi could have been jailed for up to three months or been fined, or both. — TODAY
