Jail for woman who threw boyfriend's TV, speaker from 50th floor of condominium: Report

SINGAPORE: A woman who threw her boyfriend's belongings from the balcony of her 50th-floor condominium unit was sentenced to seven weeks’ jail on Tuesday (Oct 19), according to a report by TODAY.

The items included a television, sound bar and speaker.

The incident took place in the early hours of Feb 28 last year, one week after Maria Isabel Lluen Saenz's boyfriend confessed to cheating on her, TODAY reported.

Saenz, who recently resigned from her teaching job at the Canadian International School, has since tied the knot with her boyfriend, TODAY reported.

The 49-year-old Peruvian national pleaded guilty to one charge of endangering the personal safety of others by a rash act.

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The couple had been together for at least two years, and moved into the V at Shenton condominium along Shenton Way eight months before the incident, TODAY said.

The court heard that Saenz found out about her boyfriend’s infidelity on Feb 21 last year when he went on a trip to Batam, Indonesia.

He could not be contacted until the next day, when he admitted that he had been cheating on Saenz during trips to Batam, reported TODAY.

After he returned to Singapore, Saenz's boyfriend said he wanted to marry her, but she told him she did not want to talk to him.

Over the next few days, he attempted to patch things up with her and followed through with his promise to get tested for sexually transmitted diseases, TODAY said.

Hours before the incident on Feb 28, the couple went for a movie at VivoCity shopping mall and ate dinner at a restaurant.

Saenz asked him for details about the woman he had the affair with and he told her.

After taking a taxi back to their apartment, she accused him of lying and told him to leave.

Saenz's lawyer, Anil Singh Sandhu, told the court that his client "reasoned" with her boyfriend that she was calling off their relationship due to his infidelity and told him to leave.

"He objected to her demands and that’s when Maria raised her voice," he said. 

“It’s very unfortunate that (he) lost his temper and assaulted her. He punched her on the facial region … That's when she started moving his things to the balcony and a struggle ensued.”

The court also heard that when Saenz began moving his belongings to the balcony, her boyfriend told her it was going to rain and that he wanted to move the television into the apartment.

Saenz replied that she did not care and threw it over the balcony. She also broke his sound bar against the balcony railing and threw it over, said TODAY.

She then threw a speaker, which shattered into pieces on the road below.

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Deputy Public Prosecutor Andre Ong told the court that Saenz was aware of how dangerous her actions were but did them anyway, TODAY reported.

The prosecutor, seeking at least eight weeks’ jail, noted that the items Saenz threw posed a “high degree of danger to human life” and it was “merely fortuitous” that no one was injured or killed.

In mitigation, Mr Singh said Saenz had been an educator for 24 years and had maintained a clean record through her life, according to TODAY.

She arrived in Singapore in 2010 and taught at the United World College on a part-time basis before being employed full-time at the Canadian International School.

He also said that Saenz’s husband “has changed for the better but his conduct was very much left to be desired” at the time of the offence.

The couple are in a "much better place now" and Saenz’s husband is devoted to her, Mr Singh said. 

TODAY's report wrote that Saenz will be repatriated and will likely not be able to teach again. The couple will leave Singapore after she serves her jail term, the report added.

In sentencing Saenz, District Judge Ng Cheng Thiam said that a high fine, which was sought by the defence, was “wholly inadequate” even if it was the maximum.

Saenz will begin serving her sentence on Oct 21 and remains out on bail. Her husband was seen in court with her.

She could have been jailed for up to six months or fined up to S$2,500, or both.