SINGAPORE, March 12 — When a woman was unhappy he had taken a photograph of her without permission at a sporting facility, a South Korean tourist spiked her bubble tea with an erectile dysfunction medicine.
When the woman felt giddy after drinking a few sips of her bubble tea and noticed a white powder on the plastic cover of the drink, she informed the police.
Today, Kim Donghun, 33, was sentenced to four months’ jail after pleading guilty to poisoning a person with the intent of causing harm.
The victim can not be named due to a gag order protecting her identity.
What happened
The courts heard that Kim had a hobby of taking photographs of people.
On Nov 28, 2023 between 4pm and 6pm, the victim was with her boyfriend and friend at indoor surfing facility Trifecta located along Exeter Road.
Kim spotted the victim there and found her attractive, so he took pictures of her.
Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) David Menon said that sometime between 6pm and 7pm, Kim approached the victim to show her the photographs he had taken.
However, she was unhappy he photographed her without permission, so she walked away from him. This made Kim angry.
Sometime between 7pm and 8pm, Kim went to the table where the woman had placed her belongings including a drink from a bubble tea shop.
He dissolved a drug called Tadalafil in some water, before pouring the mixture into the bubble tea cup.
Tadalafil is a medication used to treat erectile dysfunction and pulmonary arterial hypertension, and can cause headaches and nausea.
It is a scheduled poison in Singapore.
When the victim returned to the table at about 8pm, she noticed her drink cup cover was torn, but assumed one of her friends had done so.
However, she felt giddy after drinking several sips. Then, she noticed a white powder on the plastic cover.
“The victim immediately stopped drinking her drink and informed the police,” said DPP Menon, adding that testing by the Health Sciences Authority found traces of Tadalafil in the drink.
“The victim recovered fully without requiring medical attention.”
Kim later admitted to the offences after he was confronted with closed-circuit television camera footage.
This was when he returned to Singapore in December 2023, Kim said during his mitigation.
DPP Menon said Kim had told the police that he had purchased male enhancement tablets online for his own consumption, but had added it to the victim’s drink “out of spite”.
“He had been angered by his earlier interaction with the victim and spiked her drink as an act of revenge,” said DPP Menon.
Motivated by spite
The prosecutor called for a sentence of four to five months’ jail, noting that Kim had acted opportunistically and was “reacting to his negative interaction with the victim”.
“It is further aggravating that his thirst for revenge sprang from a perceived slight that emanated entirely from his own mind. The victim was blameless throughout,” said DPP Menon.
“She was unsettled that the accused had taken photos of her without her consent... (and) merely walked away.”
However, DPP Menon acknowledged that Kim had not administered the medicine with the intention of committing a further offence.
In his mitigation, he said through an interpreter that he had not meant to seriously hurt the victim, and apologised to Trifecta and the victim.
He added he had not drugged the victim to commit any sexual crimes, but had done so out of anger. He also claimed he left Trifecta without waiting to see if the victim was affected by the drug.
“When I go back to Korea, I will try to get psychiatric treatment so that I would not end up (committing) this kind of criminal action in Korea,” he said.
“I still have good (memories of) Singapore. If I’m ever given a chance to come back to Singapore, I will come back with a heart of service for other people.”
While Kim claimed that he had returned to Singapore in December 2023 to apologise to Trifecta for his actions and had an apology letter in his phone, DPP Menon said that Kim had not admitted his crimes when approached by the police.
Rather, he had admitted his mistakes only when shown CCTV footage.
District Judge Chay Yuen Fatt acknowledged that Kim did not intend to commit any further offence after drugging the victim, but noted the offence was “beyond opportunistic”.
“He had shown interest in the victim, was rebuffed and had done the action as an act of revenge,” said Judge Chay.
For poisoning a person with the intent of causing harm, Kim faced up to 10 years’ jail, and a fine or caning. — TODAY
