SINGAPORE: A housewife admitted on Thursday (Jan 2) to beating her neighbour with a mop and pelting her with eggs after she felt the noise the woman made while jumping rope was disturbing her son.
Jessinta Tan Suat Lin, 50, also told her son she would kill his father in his sleep, and the man overheard these threatening words.
She threatened her husband that she would jump bail, which would cause him to lose the S$2,000 (US$1,470) security he had put down as her bailor.
Tan pleaded guilty to one charge each of committing a rash act, voluntarily causing hurt and causing alarm with threatening words. Two more charges will be considered in sentencing.
The court heard that Tan was living at Westmont, a cluster home development, along West Coast Road with her husband and teenage son at the time of the offences in early 2024.
The victim, a 26-year-old master’s degree student, also lived in Westmont.
Around 10pm on Feb 16, the victim was jumping rope at a common area near the development’s swimming pool. She was wearing earphones.
Tan, who was in her house, was unhappy with the noise that the victim was making while jumping rope, as her son wanted to rest.
Frustrated, she confronted the victim in the common area and asked the younger woman to stop exercising, but the victim refused.
Tan hurled vulgarities at the victim. She returned to her house and threw five to six eggs out the window at the victim, hitting her back with some of the eggs.
Tan then took a mop from her house and returned to the common area to confront the younger woman again.
They got into a scuffle, during which the victim managed to grab the mop away from Tan. But Tan bit the victim’s arm and she dropped the mop in pain.
Tan then picked up the mop and hit the victim’s head multiple times. The victim bled from her injuries.
Tan used so much force that the aluminium pole broke into three pieces, Deputy Public Prosecutor Zhou Yang said.
The victim moved away from Tan and called the police, but Tan then threw a bag of rubbish and a metal incense bin at her.
The victim was taken to the hospital with bleeding on her forehead, bruises and a swollen bite mark on her arm, and required stitches.
She was discharged on the same day with antibiotics. She later moved out of the development because of the assault.
THREATENED HUSBAND AND SON
Tan was arrested and subsequently released on bail of S$2,000. Her husband was her bailor at the time.
On the night of Apr 28, Tan and her husband got into an argument when he refused to leave the bedroom even though their son wanted to practise a speech in the room.
Tan’s husband was also upset with her for speaking to their son in a rough manner.
Tan sent her husband a text message threatening to jump bail if he messed with her, which would cause him to lose the S$2,000 he had put down as security.
Later that night, while talking to her son in the living room, Tan said that she might kill her husband in his sleep one day, and that he should lock his door.
She also threatened to report him to the police for raping her. Her husband overheard these words and made a police report that night.
District Judge Crystal Goh ordered Tan to be assessed at the Institute of Mental Health on her suitability for a mandatory treatment order (MTO).
An MTO directs an offender suffering from certain treatable psychiatric conditions to undergo psychiatric treatment. It is a community-based sentence that does not leave a criminal record after completion.
Tan’s lawyer Mr Shiever R argued for an MTO on the basis that a psychiatrist who assessed Tan after the offences found she had mixed anxiety-depressive disorder.
Another psychiatrist also found there was a strong likelihood of intermittent explosive disorder. Tan was being treated for both conditions, the lawyer said.
He said Tan’s daily routine revolved around her family, and including household chores and driving her son to and from school and his activities, leaving her with little time for herself.
Tan and her husband’s relationship was strained, but she was a “loving mother” and their argument was about their different parenting styles, Mr Shiever said.
He argued that the assault on her neighbour was an isolated incident and that she was prepared to apologise to the victim and compensate her.
He also said Tan was “deeply disturbed” by her behaviour and felt ashamed to face her son after committing the offences.
The prosecutor countered that Tan’s medical reports did not indicate that her mixed anxiety disorder had any causal link to the offences.
He noted that Tan received two different diagnoses, with the intermittent explosive disorder being diagnosed closer in time to the offences than the mixed anxiety-depressive disorder.
He pointed out that Tan did not seek any psychiatric help after assaulting her neighbour, and went on to reoffend against her husband.
Tan remains out on bail of S$10,000 and will be sentenced on Feb 11.
The offence of committing a rash act that endangers life or safety carries a penalty of up to six months in jail, a fine of up to S$2,500, or both.
For voluntarily causing hurt, Tan could be jailed for up to three years, fined up to S$5,000 or both.
She could also be fined up to S$5,000 for using threatening words likely to cause alarm.
