SINGAPORE – A man struck his grandmother’s domestic helper with a knife and threatened to stab her, during an argument that started with him asking her for the model of her mobile phone.
Jerome Jayce Ng, 41, was sentenced to eight months and 10 weeks’ imprisonment on Dec 18 after pleading guilty to criminal intimidation and two other charges related to separate incidents – theft and voluntarily causing hurt to a public servant.
For the three charges, the prosecution asked for a sentence of between six to nine months and 10 to 12 weeks for Ng, noting that he had several prior convictions for theft.
At the time of the incident involving the domestic helper, which took place on Feb 3, Ng lived with his grandmother and the helper in the same flat.
The helper, identified in court documents as “Marita”, was sitting in the kitchen eating crisps when Ng walked in and asked what her mobile phone model was.
Marita said she did not know, as her sister was the one who bought the phone.
As the conversation became heated, Ng went to the sink and took hold of a knife.
He walked towards Marita and struck her on the left arm, and threatened to stab her in the stomach and chest. He also said that he wanted to kill her.
Ng then offered the knife to Marita and challenged her to a fight while assuming a boxing stance.
They did not engage in a physical fight. Marita made a police report on the same day.
