SINGAPORE – A man serving a 21-month probation over an assault charge breached the probation order when he kicked a woman and burnt her lower lip with a cigarette.
His victim, 29, was left with a bruised chest wall and a scab on her lower lip.
Alfred Lim Qing Yuan Lim, 25, pleaded guilty on Monday to one count each of assaulting the woman and using a heated substance to voluntarily cause hurt to her.
The woman cannot be named owing to a gag order to protect her identity. Court documents did not state if Lim and her were in a relationship at the time.
Probation is a community rehabilitation sentence ordered by the courts that requires the offender to be supervised by a probation officer for a period between six months and three years.
Those who breach the order may be sentenced for both the earlier offence and the current charges.
The incident happened on Dec 2, 2021
Lim was with the victim in a bedroom in his Gangsa Road flat in Bukit Panjang at around 3pm when the woman asked him if he wanted to join her friends for dinner.
He declined, but then became angry when he learnt she had invited a male friend for dinner.
He confronted the woman about three hours later and flew into a rage when she did not answer his questions.
Lim then grabbed the woman’s shirt, pulled her out of the bedroom and threatened to kick her out of the flat. When she tried to escape and headed towards the front door, he pulled her to the floor to prevent her from leaving.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Koh Yi Wen said: “The victim tried to escape through the main door again, but fell down in the process.
“While the victim was on the ground, the accused kicked her on the chest about four or five times.”
Lim then lit a cigarette and walked towards the woman who was still on the floor. He continued asking her questions, but she did not answer them.
He then assaulted her with the cigarette.
On Dec 8, 2021, she went to the National University Hospital where her injuries were looked at.
Lim, who is represented by lawyer Cory Wong from Invictus Law Corporation, was offered bail of $30,000 on Monday,
He is expected to be sentenced on Jan 9, 2023.
For using a heated substance to voluntarily cause hurt to another person, an offender can be jailed for up to seven years, fined, caned or receive any combination of such punishments.
