Man convicted of grievous hurt in Singapore

Toh was initially charged with attempted murder over the incident, which took place along Kaki Bukit Avenue 5 on March 16, 2023.

At the end of the trial, the prosecution submitted that the charge should be amended to one of voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means.

Toh and Hossen had arranged to meet on the day of the incident.

At about 5pm, Toh was driving along Kaki Bukit Avenue 5, towards Kaki Bukit Road 4, when he made a U-turn.

Hossen was cycling on the other side of the road, towards Kaki Bukit Road 5.

Toh, who did not have a valid licence to drive a van, then collided into the victim.

The collision was captured by dashcam footage from a tipper truck and a private bus parked along the road.

Toh stopped about 40m down the road, alighting to check the front of the van.

Toh later phoned Teo Kim Chiew, his associate in the contraband cigarette trade, and told the latter that he had knocked down a Bangladeshi in Kaki Bukit Avenue 5.

When Teo arrived at the scene, a passer-by had already called for an ambulance, which took Hossen to Changi General Hospital.

When Toh met Teo in Tampines, he said that the victim had suddenly cycled into his path.

Toh and Teo then drove separately to an abandoned warehouse in Defu Lane 12 to dispose of the contraband cigarettes in the van.

Toh abandoned the van, rented by a man named Nicholas Gabriel, on the road outside the warehouse.

A few days later, when Toh’s girlfriend, Irene Kwok, asked him about the incident, he told her that the victim had suddenly turned right and he could not brake in time.

The judge noted that Teo and Kwok said that Toh had told them the collision happened because the victim had suddenly moved into his path.

“It is incongruous for the accused not to have told Teo and (Kwok) he had fallen asleep at the wheel – if that is really what had happened,” said the judge.

During the trial, Teo sought to change his account on this. He said Toh did mention to him that he had fallen asleep. He said his earlier statement that Toh told him the victim had suddenly cycled into his path was not correct.

The judge said Teo was just changing his evidence in an attempt to help Toh.

He said the circumstances surrounding the collision also showed that Toh was in control of the van.

In the few seconds between the time when the van made the U-turn and the collision, the van was seen moving away from the left side of the road, thus avoiding a collision with the back of the parked truck.

Toh will be sentenced at a later date.