THE former chairman of Laguna Park management committee was fined a total of $1,200 on Tuesday for mischief over incidents during the housing estate's acrimonious drive to secure a collective sale.

Lee Kok Leong, 62, a general manager, admitted to inserting super glue into the keyholes of two units at his block in Marine Parade Road on Aug 25 last year.

He was caught on CCTV camera installed by Mr Yap Cher Sim, 45, along the common corridor of his ninth-floor apartment.

The court heard that Mr Yap could not insert his house key into the keyhole of the padlock to the front gate at about 5.10am that day.

On closer examination, he found white substance believed to be super glue in the keyhole of the padlock, as well in the keyholes of the front and rear gates too. The CCTV footages captured Lee in the act between 12.44 and 12.46am.

The court heard that Lee had similarly inserted super glue into the keyholes of Mr Yap's neighbour, Ms Alice Elizabeth Rappa, 54, that day. Lee had compensated $410 to Mr Yap, and $180 to Ms Rappa for the damage caused.

Pleading for leniency, his lawyer Ramesh Tiwary said just before the incident, someone had put glue in his client's letterbox, causing him a great deal of anguish and depression.

Lee, who had been seeing a psychiatrist since 1998, suffered a relapse of a moderate to severe depression last June, according to his psychiatrist, Dr Ung Eng Khean.

He could have been jailed for up to one year and/or fined on each charge.

The estate has since obtained the minimum 80 per cent threshold for a collective sale.