Jobless man jailed 4 weeks for locking mother’s tenant in flat and demanding money
Lim Kok Inn at the State Courts on March 8, 2022.
SINGAPORE — A 60-year-old man was jailed for four weeks on Tuesday (March 8) after locking his mother’s tenant in his flat for about two hours.
Lim Kok Inn wanted to demand cash from his mother but was unaware that she had moved out of her flat.
He pleaded guilty to one count of wrongfully confining her tenant, 56-year-old Benjamin Kwek.
The court heard that Lim — who is unemployed and lived separately from his mother — would, on occasion, go to his mother’s flat and demand money from her.
At some point, she moved to her daughter's home but did not tell Lim.
On Aug 20 last year, he went to look for his mother but no one responded when he pressed the doorbell.
Knowing Mr Kwek was in the flat and wanting to get his attention, Lim used a padlock to secure the front metal gate and repeatedly knocked on the door. He then left when no one answered.
About an hour later at 9am, he returned and pressed the doorbell several times. This time, Mr Kwek opened the door.
Lim said that he had locked the gate and demanded that Mr Kwek call Lim’s sister. Mr Kwek did so and told him to speak to her on the phone himself.
Lim then told her that he needed money and would unlock the padlock when he received S$200. However, when he asked Mr Kwek for the sum, the other man said that he only had S$100 and told Lim to call his sister again.
Lim eventually accepted the $100 and unlocked the padlock, adding that he would return the next day for the remaining sum. Mr Kwek said that he would be at work and asked him to resolve the issue with his sibling.
Lim's sister has since returned the S$100 to Mr Kwek.
The court also heard that this was not Lim’s first brush with the law. When he was aged about 18, he served a reformative training stint for armed robbery and theft. He was also jailed two weeks in 2013 for house trespass.
The prosecution asked for two to six weeks’ jail, arguing that Lim had essentially extorted Mr Kwek by threatening to keep him locked in the house unless he received money.
Lim, who was not represented by a lawyer, asked for a lighter sentence due to his age. He also said that his friend would help him to look for a job.
He could have been jailed for up to three years or fined, or punished with both.
