Man to serve a week’s jail for injuring worker with forklift
SINGAPORE — He saw wood pallets lying around the loading bay of his office building, and decided to use a forklift to move them away.
But Theenatayalan Ahumoolam, 27, engaged the wrong gear of the forklift, slamming another worker against a pillar and severely fracturing his pelvis.
The Malaysian delivery driver, who is not accredited to operate forklifts in Singapore, was yesterday sentenced to a week’s jail for causing grievous hurt by negligence.
He admitted he was negligent and pleaded not to be jailed, saying he had not intended to hurt anyone. But District Judge Siva Shanmugam felt that the nature of the case and injuries suffered by the victim warranted a jail term.
The court heard that on May 29 last year, Theenatayalan — who works for food distributor Gan Teck Kar Investments at Amtech Building in Sin Ming — had briefly chatted with the victim, who is from another company, after clearing the wood pallets.
When he wanted to drive away, he engaged the wrong gear and the forklift reversed into 34-year-old Leonard Yong Tze Chiang, sandwiching him between the machine and a pillar.
Theenatayalan then tried to move the vehicle forward but engaged the wrong gear again, slamming into Mr Yong a second time.
He then alighted to help Mr Yong, who underwent emergency surgery at Tan Tock Seng Hospital and had to have another operation a few days later. Six months after the accident, the victim still needed a catheter and colostomy to drain waste from his body.
Last year, Mr Yong’s boss was reported as saying the victim could have died if he were shorter and the forklift had slammed into his chest.
Theenatayalan could have been jailed up to two years and fined up to S$5,000 for causing grievous hurt by acting so negligently as to endanger the life or safety of others.
NEO CHAI CHIN
