Man jailed for threatening ex-girlfriend and breaking into her room

Lim Hui Yin, an unemployed man who broke into his ex-girlfriend's home and threatened to kill her and then commit suicide was jailed for 15 months. PHOTO: ST GRAPHICS

SINGAPORE - An unemployed man who broke into his ex-girlfriend's home and threatened to kill her and then commit suicide was jailed for 15 months on Wednesday (March 16).

Lim Hui Yin, 25, a Malaysian, pleaded guilty to threatening Ms Yap Jing Ting, 21, housebreaking and having a 7cm-long knife on Feb 20 this year.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Gabriel Choong Hefeng told the court that Lim and Ms Yap were in a relationship until they broke up in August last year.

Sometime in January this year, he saw her with her boyfriend and followed them in a taxi. He found out that she was living at Lorong 25A Geylang, and decided to confront her over their relationship.

Armed with a knife, he went to her residence. He also brought along a piece of cloth and a cable tie.

He waited outside her home until a resident exited and he asked for the PIN code to the second floor.

After getting in, Lim located Ms Yap's room. He used the cable tie to successfully unlock the door. Ms Yap was sleeping when he placed the piece of wet cloth to cover her mouth. This woke her up and she struggled while he continued to cover her mouth.

He released his hold on her only after she said that she could not breathe.

She turned on the lights and asked why he had brought the knife. He told her in Mandarin: "This knife is to kill you, directly stab your throat and then I commit suicide. I want to die with you."

Ms Yap then hugged Lim to console him. They then talked about their past relationship and other personal matters.

Lim later followed Ms Yap to her workplace at Liang Seah Street and loitered there. Her employer saw him and called the police, who came and found a knife in his bag.

In mitigation, Lim said he was desperate to save the relationship. He said he had family issues in Malaysia, and was remorseful.

District Judge Lee Poh Choo backdated his sentence to Feb 22.

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