A 52-YEAR-OLD man who was ferrying students and teachers in his private coach lost his cool when another bus cut into his lane along Farrer Road last May.

He trailed the bus, SMRT service no. 961, to a nearby bus stop, where he confronted and later punched driver Mr Wong Kam Weng, 36, before driving off.

On Wednesday, Yeo Teck Kiang showed no expression when he was jailed for five weeks in a district court for voluntarily hurting Mr Wong.

The court heard that after the incident, Mr Wong, who suffered from a swelling on his head, sought treatment at a polyclinic and was given three days' medical leave.

Pleading for leniency, Yeo's lawyer Mr Shashi Nathan said that the court must distinguish between a case where a member of the public attacks a public transport worker and one where an altercation occurs between two such workers.

He said: 'Moreover, the injuries sustained were very minor.'

However Assistant Public Prosecutor Nicholas Ngoh retorted that Yeo's actions would have been seen by young impressionable students who were on board the coach.

Calling Yeo the 'sole aggressor', Mr Ngoh added that it would send the wrong message that violence on the road is condoned.

According to court documents, Yeo had driven onto a flyover along Lornie Road on May 14, 2007, ferrying students and teachers to Dunman High School from Tampines MRT Station.

But when his coach entered Farrer Road, the traffic lanes merged and Yeo noticed that Mr Wong had cut into his lane.

Enraged, he followed behind Mr Wong's bus until it stopped at a bus stop opposite Queens Road Wet Market to pick up and allow passengers to alight.

As Mr Wong pulled out of the bus stop, Yeo overtook his bus and stopped alongside it. Opening the passenger door of his coach, Yeo confronted Mr Wong as he had been unhappy that the bus had blocked him at the bus stop.

Mr Wong wound down the driver's window of the bus and a heated dispute ensued, ending in Yeo throwing him a punch on his left cheek.

When a bus passenger, who had seen what had happened, shouted at the two men, Yeo returned to his seat and drove off.