Drunk student jailed three weeks for punching taxi driver

SINGAPORE — A Singapore Institute of Management (SIM) student has been handed a three-week jail term for punching a taxi driver when in a drunken stupor.

Tan Jian Liang, 24, had boarded the taxi at Boat Quay in mid-January at about 1.40am.

He instructed 65-year-old Seah Teck Kim to take him to Choa Chu Kang Crescent, then fell asleep.

When Mr Seah reached the destination, he parked his taxi by the road and tried to wake Tan up to find out which block he wanted to go to.

But Tan chased the driver around the taxi, pushed him to the ground and punched him repeatedly.

Another charge of damaging the NETS device in the taxi was taken into consideration.

The court heard that Tan compensated the victim S$515 and also paid about S$335 for damaging the device.

In mitigation, Tan, who was unrepresented, told the district judge he truly regretted his actions and pleaded for leniency.

But Judge Lim Keng Yeow noted that the offences were “very serious” even though Tan is a first-time offender.