TWO men, who smashed the windscreen of a bus with beer bottles and then forced their way in to assault its driver in full view of 20 terrified passengers, were each sentenced to jail for a year and three months today.
Sin Teck Hock, 46, and You Yee Chong, 41, went into this frenzy over the bus driver had sounding his horn because his access to a bus bay was being blocked by Sin's lorry on the night of Nov 9 last year. The whole incident was captured by surveillance cameras on the bus and the duo had pleaded guilty on Oct 24 last year to committing mischief and causing hurt. Sin also pleaded guilty to obstructing a police officer discharging his duty.
In passing sentence, District Judge Hamidah Ibrahim said the she agreed wholeheartedly with the prosecution that this was indeed one of the worst cases of violence against a public transport worker in Singapore.
"The level of hooliganism and sheer boldness of the two accused persons was just appalling, audacious and shocking," she noted. She added that the bus driver was still traumatised by the attack and afraid to drive along Hougang Avenue 1 for fear of being assaulted again.
The duo will commence their jail terms on Feb 19 to allow them to celebrate Chinese New Year.
