Man admits punching elderly cabby’s eye in road rage incident, causing long-term injuries
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Marcus Loke Teck Soon pleaded guilty on Aug 4 to one count of assaulting the taxi driver.
PHOTO: ST FILE
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- Marcus Loke Teck Soon assaulted an elderly taxi driver in a road rage incident, causing serious eye injuries that forced the victim into retirement.
- In a separate incident, Loke struck an elderly woman with a car while making a turn, leading to several fractures.
- Loke will be sentenced on Aug 28.
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SINGAPORE – In a road rage incident, a motorist punched an elderly taxi driver once on his right eye, causing the latter to get sight-threatening injuries and to retire from his job due to the long-term condition.
Marcus Loke Teck Soon, 26, pleaded guilty on Aug 4 to one count of assaulting the taxi driver.
The 68-year-old victim is now jobless, said Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Samuel Chew, adding: “His overall quality of life is also adversely affected, as his visual acuity has been limited to the counting of fingers only.
“The victim has also attended, and continues to attend, multiple medical appointments with an ophthalmologist, and is required to apply topical lubricants and ointments to his eyes four times a day.”
In an unrelated case, Loke also pleaded guilty to one count of causing grievous hurt to another person while driving a car without considering other road users.
He was driving a car when it struck an elderly woman who was crossing the road at a green man signal, causing her to sustain a head injury and leg fractures.
She is unlikely to regain full function of her right leg and may have to use walking aids, said the DPP.
In the first incident, court documents stated that Loke and the cabby got into an argument after the older man overtook the offender, who was driving a van along Ayer Rajah Expressway towards Marina Coastal Expressway shortly before 3pm on Aug 12, 2022.
Both vehicles exited the expressway and the taxi driver stopped at a pedestrian crossing near Alexandra Road. Loke then got out of his van to confront the older man.
At some point, he saw the cabby flashing an obscene hand gesture at him.
He ordered the cabby to alight, but the older man refused to comply and tried to drive away.
Loke then punched the taxi driver before leaving the scene.
The cabby started bleeding from his nose and sought treatment at Alexandra Hospital, and he was later found to have a fractured right eye socket and bleeding behind the eyeball.
He was hospitalised from Aug 12 to Aug 16, 2022, and given 50 days of hospitalisation leave.
The victim had to fork out $566 in medical fees before undisclosed financial assistance covered such costs. Loke has since paid him the amount in restitution.
In the second incident, Loke was driving a car along Kim Seng Road at around 3.15pm on Feb 22, 2023, when he failed to notice a 74-year-old woman crossing the road with a traffic light in her favour.
The car then struck her while Loke was making a discretionary right turn into Havelock Road.
He immediately stopped driving to help the woman and called for an ambulance.
The woman was unconscious when she was taken to the Singapore General Hospital, and she was later given 162 days of hospitalisation leave.
Loke will be sentenced on Aug 28.
