Jail for man who threw dumb-bells from 22nd floor

A man was yesterday jailed for a month after hurling two dumb-bells and several other objects from the 22nd floor of an HDB block, shattering the windscreen of a van.

Part-time delivery assistant Jai Vicknesh Kandasamy, 35, was also given an $800 fine, or four days' jail in default, for using abusive language on a police officer at the void deck of the block in Jalan Kayu on April 11 this year.

After convicting Vicknesh last month, District Judge John Ng admonished him, saying the dumb-bells he had thrown could have killed someone walking below.

"Eighty per cent of our population live in HDB flats. You are not throwing some tissue paper, toilet roll, but dumb-bells. It will be too late if you hit somebody. In this case, it hit a car and affected somebody's livelihood," he said.

Besides the dumb-bells, Vicknesh had thrown down a chair, two bamboo poles, shoes and two laundry racks.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Chong Kee En told the court that Vicknesh, Ms Jeya Jayaram, 32, and Mr Subramaniam Ellan, 29, had turned up at the home of Ms Jayaram's former boyfriend, Mr Karthikeyan Murty, 32, that day.

Ms Jayaram insisted that they speak outside. Initially, Mr Karthikeyan was outside the flat, but quickly walked back in when he saw the two men, but not before being punched by Ms Jayaram.

She shouted loudly and demanded to know what Mr Karthikeyan had been saying about her to others, said DPP Chong.

Vicknesh then committed the rash act. The thrown objects shattered the windscreen of a parked Toyota Hi-Roof van, which cost $700 to repair.

When Sergeant Lee Jin Wei from Sengkang Neighbourhood Police Centre arrived to interview the trio, Vicknesh scolded him with a vulgar word in Tamil four times.

Vicknesh said through his lawyer that he was intoxicated and not thinking rationally when he threw the items down "in a fit of anger".

He could have been jailed for up to six months and/or fined up to $2,500 for the rash act. For using abusive words, he could have been fined up to $5,000 and/or jailed for up to 12 months.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on October 20, 2017, with the headline Jail for man who threw dumb-bells from 22nd floor. Subscribe