Road rage cabbie who burnt taxi driver with insecticide spray and lighter jailed
Ng Soon Kim created a flash fire and directed it at another taxi driver, causing the driver to suffer first-degree superficial burns to parts of his face and neck.
SINGAPORE — In an “extreme” case of road rage, a 66-year-old taxi driver lit a flash fire using insecticide spray and a lighter and then directed it at another cabbie.
For voluntarily causing hurt with a dangerous weapon, he was jailed 14 months on Thursday (Jan 24).
The court heard that on May 1, 2017, Ng Soon Kim — who was then a ComfortDelGro taxi driver — had cut into Mr Lam Choon Chai's lane at the VivoCity taxi stand, nearly causing Mr Lam's Transcab taxi to hit a wall.
After picking up their passengers, both parties drove towards the junction of Harbourfront Walk and Telok Blangah Road.
Unhappy with Ng, Mr Lam wound down his front left window and shouted vulgarities at him.
Ng alighted from his taxi and proceeded to spray the insecticide at Mr Lam twice through the open window.
Some of the insecticide got into Mr Lam's eyes during the second attempt, resulting in eye irritation and pain. At this juncture, Mr Lam’s passenger shouted at Ng.
It was on the third attempt that Ng lit the insecticide with a lighter, creating a flash fire stream that lasted three seconds.
The police were later called to the scene and Mr Lam was taken to the Singapore General Hospital. The flash fire caused him to suffer first-degree superficial burns to his left ear, cheek and neck, and singed his hair and left eyebrow.
In his mitigation plea, defence lawyer Mervyn Tan said that Ng was frustrated because he was going through a divorce at the time of the incident. He had then lost his job as a manager not too long ago as well.
In sentencing Ng, District Judge Kenneth Yap said: "Everyone is frustrated but it doesn't give you a free pass to start a flash fire.
"We cannot have people take action into their own hands. There is potential harm from using fire in a confined space."
Labelling Ng's action as "extreme", District Judge Yap noted that there was a passenger in Ng's taxi at the time of the incident, which could cause alarm.
In addition to his jail sentence, Ng was disqualified from holding or obtaining all classes of driving licences for 18 months after his release from prison. He was also ordered to pay S$115 to Mr Lam as compensation.
For voluntarily causing hurt with a dangerous weapon, Ng could have been jailed up to seven years, caned and fined.
