Man jailed for locking mother's tenant in flat, demanding money

SINGAPORE: A 60-year-old man padlocked his mother's tenant in a flat for two-and-a-half hours, only unlocking the gate when the tenant gave him S$100.

The man, Lim Kok Inn, was jailed four weeks on Tuesday (Mar 8) after pleading guilty to one count of wrongful confinement.

The court heard that Lim's mother used to live in the flat as the landlord of the 56-year-old victim.

Lim, who was unemployed, did not live with his mother. However, he used to go to the flat to ask her for money, shouting and demanding if she did not give him any.

At some point, Lim's mother moved out to stay with her daughter. Lim was not aware of this. Around Aug 20, 2021, he went to his mother's flat and rang the doorbell, but no one responded.

On Aug 29 that year, at around 7.40am, he used a padlock to lock the flat's front metal gate and knocked on the door repeatedly.

According to court documents, Lim knew that his mother's tenant was in the flat and padlocked the gate to get the tenant's attention. He left after no one came to the door.

Lim returned at around 9am and pressed the doorbell repeatedly. When the victim answered the door, Lim demanded that he call Lim's sister. Lim then left the unit.

Over a separate phone call with his sister, Lim told her that he needed money and would release the padlock when he received S$200. Lim's sister told the victim to pay him the money.

When Lim returned to the flat at around 10am, the victim told him he only had S$100. Lim asked him for the money, unlocked the padlock and said he would return the next day for the remaining S$100.

Lim's sister has since returned S$100 to the victim.

The prosecution sought four to six weeks' jail, saying that Lim wrongfully confined the victim to extort money from him.

Lim could have been jailed up to three years, fined or both.