SINGAPORE - A former taxi driver who molested two female passengers - one of them while she was throwing up - was jailed for nine months on Thursday.
Ang Wei Leong, 37, pleaded guilty to two charges of assaulting or using criminal force with the intent to outrage the modesty of another person. Four other charges were taken into consideration.
One one occasion - at about 5.30am on June 9 last year - he struck up a conversation with a victim then asked if she wanted to have a beer with him before he took her to her Yishun home.
Although she declined, he took her to Yishun dam and got two bottles of beer from his boot.Fearing for her safety, she got out and sat at the curb but Ang hugged her and tried to kiss her.
She managed to block him and after finishing his beer, Ang drove her home. On the way there she messaged her godsister for help.
In the early hours of Oct 31, 2013, he was driving a woman home from Clarke Quay when she fell asleep. Ang stopped the cab and reached behind to touch her left breast.
As she had been drinking, the woman woke up to be sick. Ang passed her a plastic bag, and as she threw up he squeezed her breasts. He later drove her home.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Krystle Chiang asked for a sentence in the "higher end" of range between six and nine months.
Ang's lawyer Jeremy Pereira said in mitigation that Ang and his wife are currently unemployed. They have a son in Primary 6, and elderly parents with diabetes and high blood pressure to provide for.
District Judge Michelle Yap said his sentence was necessary so that the public would have confidence when they take public transport.
For using criminal force with the intent to outrage modesty, he could have been jailed up to two years, caned and fined.
