76-year-old woman fined for scratching Audi parked opposite her home during Chinese New Year

SINGAPORE — Upset with motorists parking their cars near her home during Chinese New Year festivities, a 76-year-old woman scratched an Audi A4 with a key.

The victim forked out S$14,752 in total for the repairs and for the cost of renting an identical car.

On Monday (Sept 14), Ang Guat Beng was ordered to pay a S$7,500 fine after pleading guilty to one charge of mischief.

The court heard that the victim, a 35-year-old IT salesperson, and her husband drove to their friend’s home in Serangoon Gardens for Chinese New Year celebrations at about 6pm on Jan 26.

About three hours later, in-car camera footage — obtained from the vehicle parked directly behind the Audi — showed Ang scratching the length of both sides of the car.

The victim made a police report at Ang Mo Kio North Neighbourhood Police Centre the next day.

Ang refused at first to compensate the victim but made full restitution on Aug 3.

In mitigation, Ang’s lawyer Adrian Wee from Characterist LLC said that Ang “regrets her actions entirely” and that she has “committed to preventing a recurrence”.

Asking for a S$5,000 fine, Mr Wee explained that Ang had gone for her daily evening walk after dinner. 

She then discovered that the rubbish and recycling bins outside her home were gone and a car she did not recognise was parked opposite her house.

Ang eventually found the bins about four to five houses away and had to push them back to her house by herself. 

“This was no easy task for a 76-year-old,” Mr Wee added.

Angry and frustrated, Ang thought that the victim had moved the bins away “deliberately and maliciously”. 

Mr Wee told the court: “It was inexplicable to our client why the bins needed to be pushed so far away… Against her better judgement and in the spur of the moment, our client used the house key in her hands to scratch the said car.”

For mischief, Ang could have been jailed up to two years or fined, or both.