Taxi driver who told couple to stop fighting in his cab was choked and punched, aggressor gets jail

While he was being choked, the victim swerved his taxi to the left, from lane four of the five-lane road to the left road shoulder of the Central Expressway, while slowing down.

There were other vehicles on the road and a few of them overtook his taxi as it slowed.

There was no collision, but the swerve caused Phay to hit his head against the window before he fell asleep.

The victim was afraid and repeatedly pressed the emergency call button in his taxi for the rest of the journey.

The taxi operator responded as the vehicle was about to reach Serangoon. When they got there, Phay’s fiancee paid the fare, asked the victim not to call the police and left with Phay.

The victim sought medical treatment and was diagnosed with a neck sprain. He was discharged with analgesia, a pain reliever, and two days of medical leave.

Phay made full restitution to the victim for his medical bill of about S$159.

SENTENCING ARGUMENTS

The prosecution sought 12 to 16 weeks’ jail for Phay, saying the attack in a moving vehicle carried significant potential harm not only to everyone in the taxi but also to other road users on the expressway.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Daniel Foo said: “In summary, this was an unjustified and sustained attack on a vulnerable … class of victims, to a vulnerable part of the victim’s body, and the victim himself was also in a vulnerable position of limited mobility.” 

Phay has a voluntarily causing hurt conviction from 2001.

His lawyer, Mr Thomas Tham, said that his client was “a bit drunk” after having drinks with his fiancee.

“They quarrelled and the victim joined in the quarrel and told them to stop. It was because of that that the incident between the accused and the taxi driver occurred,” Mr Tham added.

He spoke of his client’s health issues and said that his client was living with his 84-year-old mother, and that his only brother had died.

He also said that the 2001 conviction is dated and urged the court to impose a fine instead of jail, “otherwise anything can happen to him in prison”. The lawyer was referring to his client’s health issues, but did not elaborate in open court.

District Judge Shen Wanqin found that a jail term was necessary to deter similar attacks on public transport workers.

She said that this was a sustained attack with a careless disregard for the safety of all concerned and unprovoked aggression.

She allowed Phay to defer his sentence to arrange for caregiving for his mother.

For voluntarily causing hurt, he could have been jailed for up to three years or fined up to S$5,000, or both.