Stockbroker fined $2,000 for kicking football against boy's legs 3 times

Keith Tan Chee Siang was fined $2,000 after kicking a football against a nine-year-old boy's legs three times to teach him a lesson. ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW

SINGAPORE - A man was fined $2,000 after kicking a football against a nine-year-old boy's legs three times to teach him a lesson.

Keith Tan Chee Siang, 36, was upset because the boy had earlier kicked the ball which accidentally hit his own young daughter and caused her to fall off her skate scooter.

On Tuesday (Dec 6), Tan, a stockbroker, was also ordered to pay $108 compensation to the victim after he admitted to hurting him at an HDB void deck in Bukit Panjang.

District Judge Salina Ishak said Tan had over-reacted and his actions had caused injuries to the victim.

"As an adult and parent, you ought to have set a better example and not take the matter into your own hand," she told him.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Chew Xin Ying said that on May 25, 2016, the victim was playing football with his friend when he kicked the ball in the direction of Tan's six-year-old daughter, and accidentally hit her on the shoulder.

As a result, she lost her balance, fell off her skate scooter and started crying. Tan pacified her and she subsequently stopped crying.

Intending to teach the boy a lesson, Tan told the boy to pass him the football. He told him to stand still near the wall of the void deck, which the victim did.

Standing 3 to 5m behind the victim, Tan placed the football in front of him and kicked the ball against the victim's legs three times, hitting him on his legs each time.

After every kick, he would ask the victim to pass the football back to him.

DPP Chew said after the second and third kicks, he had asked the boy "pain or not'' but the victim did not reply.

He was scared and nervous even though both his legs hurt.

Tan then walked away without checking on the well-being of the victim.

A second charge of doing a rash act to endanger the personal safety of others was taken into consideration in sentencing. Tan had kicked the football which missed and hit the wall. It rebounded and hit the victim's face, causing him to suffer bodily pain and resulting in a nose bleed.

The boy's mother made a police report that evening.

Tan's lawyer Tan Chee Kiong said his client's daughter suffered an abrasion after she fell off the skate scooter. He said Tan was upset and was genuinely remorseful for having committed the offence on the spur of the moment.

He said Tan had certainly learnt his lesson and realised that he should not have taken the matter into his own hands.

Tan could have been jailed for up to two years and/or fined up to $5,000 for causing hurt.

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