Man jailed for pouring soil into company lorry's engine oil compartment over work dispute

SINGAPORE: Frustrated over a work dispute and wanting to get his company's attention, a man poured soil into the engine oil compartment of a lorry belonging to the company.

The repairs cost the firm S$24,931.

Indian national Seeni Paramasivam, 40, was jailed for 12 weeks on Friday (Feb 18) for one count of committing mischief.

The court heard that Seeni worked as a driver for Integrated Infrastructure and stayed in the company's dormitory in Sungei Kadut.

He earned S$465 in basic salary, and his monthly net salary was about S$1,000 after taking into account overtime pay, allowances and other deductions.

Sometime in March 2020, Seeni became embroiled in a work-related dispute with his company. Details of the dispute were not revealed in court documents.

At about 2am on Mar 21, 2020, Seeni drank two cans of beer in his dorm room while mulling over the dispute. Feeling frustrated and thinking that the company was not listening to him, he decided to "do something to gain the company's attention", the prosecutor said.

At about 3am, he walked towards the company lorry that was parked in the dormitory car park. He opened the engine compartment and poured some soil into it.

As an experienced driver, Seeni knew that his actions would damage the lorry, but he wanted the company to incur losses by diminishing the lorry's utility.

The assigned driver of the lorry reported the next day that smoke was coming from the engine of the vehicle. It was taken to a workshop, where the crime was uncovered.

Seeni was caught on closed-circuit television footage walking towards the lorry at the time of the offence. He has made restitution of S$254.90 via salary deduction. The company spent S$24,931 repairing the lorry.

The prosecutor sought three months' jail and did not ask for a compensation order, "bearing in mind the accused's income".

For mischief, Seeni could have been jailed up to two years, fined, or both.