A district judge yesterday told off a parent for having overreacted and injuring a nine-year-old boy.
Stockbroker Keith Tan Chee Siang, 36, blamed the boy for causing his six-year-old daughter to fall off her skate scooter.
To teach him a lesson, Tan made the boy stand against a wall and repeatedly kicked a football at him.
The boy had earlier accidentally hit his daughter with the same ball.
"As an adult and parent, you ought to have set a better example and not take the matter into your own hands," District Judge Salina Ishak told Tan.
Tan was fined $2,000 and ordered to pay $108 in compensation to the victim for causing him bodily pain.
Tan admitted to kicking a football against the boy's legs three times at a void deck in Bukit Panjang on May 25.
He was upset because the boy had earlier kicked the ball, which accidentally hit his daughter on the shoulder. She lost her balance, fell off her skate scooter and cried.
Tan told the boy to stand still near the wall of the void deck. From a distance of 3m to 5m behind the victim, Tan kicked the ball against the victim's legs three times.
After every kick, he would tell the victim to pass the football back to him.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Chew Xin Ying said that after the second and third kicks, he asked the boy "pain or not", but the victim did not reply.
The boy was scared even though his legs hurt, the court heard.
Tan then walked away without checking on the victim's well-being.
A second charge of committing a rash act to endanger the personal safety of others was taken into consideration in sentencing.
According to the charge, the ball he kicked hit the wall then rebounded and hit the boy's face, resulting in bodily pain and a nose bleed. The boy's mother made a police report that evening.
Tan's lawyer Tan Chee Kiong said his client was upset and was genuinely remorseful for having committed the offence on the spur of the moment. He said Tan had learnt his lesson.
Tan could have been jailed for up to two years and/or fined up to $5,000 for causing hurt.
