Ferrari driver, 72, found guilty of punching motorist

SINGAPORE — A 72-year-old woman was found guilty on Thursday (Aug 17) of punching a motorist who had refused to make way for her Ferrari in a 2014 incident.

Shi Ka Yee was convicted of one count of hurting Raphael Chong Yen Ping, 39, along Telok Ayer Street at around 5pm on Feb 25 that year. Shi had punched Mr Chong in his face, leaving him with a cut above his right eyebrow.

The elderly woman will be sentenced at a later date. She could be jailed up to two years or fined up to S$5,000 or both, for voluntarily causing hurt.

During a two-day trial in June, Shi, who is embroiled in a separate civil suit with her neighbour over the pruning of an old raintree, claimed that she had slapped, not punched, Mr Chong because he had used vulgarities on her.

In convicting her on Thursday, District Judge Chay Yuen Fatt rejected her claims, saying that he found that Mr Chong had not used profanities, and that her victim had been punched, not slapped.

Mr Chong testified during the trial that he had been waiting for a car-park lot on the evening of the assault, when Shi, driving a red Ferrari, pulled up beside him and started honking at him.

She asked him to move his car — a bronze BMW — but he did not do so, saying there was ample space for her car to pass.

Mr Chong added that Shi then became upset, and got out of her car, started taking pictures of his car, and berated him.

The woman then punched him while he was seated in the car, Mr Chong said.

A passer-by, Mr Stephen Choy, had also testified in court that Shi landed the first blow on Mr Chong.

She had attempted to punch him a second time, but Mr Chong dodged it, Mr Choy said.

Shi, who was wearing a cream-coloured jacket with matching shorts on Thursday, showed no emotion on hearing her conviction.

Shi also faces six other unrelated charges for offences committed in 2015 and 2016. 

Four of them relate to a 2015 dispute with her neighbour over a raintree that grew from her home in Astrid Hill.

Two other charges relate to an incident on June 29, 2016, when she allegedly stopped her car between the third and fourth lanes of Orchard Road, just after the Claymore Road junction, obstructing traffic.

These charges will be dealt with at a later date.