Man gets jail for driving Merc forward against woman, pushing her after she swore at him in road dispute
SINGAPORE — Upset that another driver had cut into his lane and was unapologetic about it, Naavin Gopalan got out of his Mercedes at a red light and kicked the other car several times.
When the other driver, a woman, got out and stood in front of his car, he drove it forward slowly, causing her to suffer abrasions.
Gopalan, 25, was sentenced on Monday (July 10) to three weeks' jail and was disqualified from driving for a year upon release.
He pleaded guilty to one charge of causing hurt by rash act and one charge of mischief. One other charge of causing hurt was taken into consideration for sentencing.
WHAT HAPPENED
At about 5pm on Jan 17 this year, Gopalan and the victim, Ms Josephine Soh, 46, were driving in their respective Mercedes vehicles along the three-lane road of Bukit Batok Road.
At some point, the victim switched from the middle to the right-most lane, where Gopalan was driving in.
As he was right behind her, he had to brake his car sharply to prevent a collision, said Deputy Public Prosecutor Brian Tan.
They continued driving and eventually stopped at the traffic light junction of Clementi Road and Sunset Way as the traffic light turned red.
Upset at what happened earlier, Gopalan got out of his car and approached Ms Soh's vehicle, which was stopped in front of his.
As he approached her from the right side, she wound down her driver’s window and began shouting expletives at him.
Furious, he countered with expletives before kicking the side mirror and door of her car several times.
Court documents did not state what words they used on one another.
After he was done, he returned to his car and tried to drive off.
However, Ms Soh left her car and stood in front of Gopalan's car.
As she refused to move, Gopalan drove his car forward slowly, pushing against her knees and shins for 2m to 3m for around six seconds.
He then left his car and used both hands to push her onto the ground.
But Ms Soh quickly got up and blocked his car again.
At this point, Gopalan's wife who was also in the car went to pull Ms Soh aside so he could drive off.
Court documents stated that he was driving to Clementi Police Division to report the incident.
However, his wife called him a short while later and asked him to return to the scene as Ms Soh had called the police.
He then drove his car back to Clementi Road and waited for the police to arrive.
During this time, they were occupying the fourth and fifth lanes of Clementi Road and vehicles had to avoid them by using the other lanes.
Court documents stated that Ms Soh suffered from abrasions on her knees, shins and left elbow as a result of the incident.
The total cost of repairs for the damage caused by Gopalan to her car was S$2,235.
In his mitigation plea, Gopalan asked for a shorter disqualification period as he needed the car for work. His occupation was not stated in court documents.
However, Judge Brenda Chua said that such reductions in disqualification periods are only considered under "exceptional situations".
Those convicted of causing hurt by an act which endangers life or the personal safety of others may be jailed up to a year, fined up to S$5,000, or both.
For committing mischief, the man could have been jailed up to two years, fined, or both.
