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Man jailed 1 year after threatening colleague with knife, trying to molest her in staff room

SINGAPORE — After catching a whiff of his co-worker's perfume while they were in the staff locker room, Lim Chee Wee tried to force her to be intimate with him by pointing a knife at her neck.

Man jailed 1 year after threatening colleague with knife, trying to molest her in staff room
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SINGAPORE — After catching a whiff of his co-worker's perfume while they were in the staff locker room, Lim Chee Wee tried to force her to be intimate with him by pointing a knife at her neck.

His efforts were foiled after she began resisting him and shouting that he was trying to rape her. Their colleagues then dashed into the room and detained Lim.

On Wednesday (Sept 14), the Malaysian man, 37, was jailed one year after pleading guilty to a single charge of criminal intimidation.

Another charge of attempted molestation was taken into consideration for sentencing.

His 28-year-old victim, who is also Malaysian, cannot be named due to a court order to protect her identity. They both worked at a bakery in the eastern region of Singapore.

The incident occurred on June 17 this year, the court heard. Lim rarely interacted with the victim because he worked in the kitchen while she manned the cashier’s counter.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Jeremy Bin told the court that Lim then grew infatuated with the younger woman and often entertained sexual fantasies about her.

Around March this year, Lim became upset when he found out that the victim was engaged to be married.

On June 17, he was sitting in the staff locker room playing games and watching videos on his mobile phone when she entered the locker room to retrieve her belongings and clock out from work.

DPP Bin said: “Upon seeing the victim and smelling her perfume, the accused had the sudden desire to be physically intimate with her.

"However, he knew that the victim would not consent to being intimate with him.”

Lim then left the locker room and picked up a knife with an 18cm-long blade from the nearby kitchen.

When he returned to the locker room, he closed the door behind him. The victim turned around and he advanced upon her, pointing the knife at her neck when he was about an arm’s length away.

She did not comply with his threats and instead screamed while trying to wrestle the knife away from him. In the ensuing scuffle, her left thumb was cut.

She eventually managed to pry the weapon away from Lim. He then covered her mouth with his hand and told her repeatedly not to shout.

He also tried to kiss her mouth and cheek but failed.

She continued to shout for help, screaming that he was trying to rape her.

Fearful of being caught, he ran out of the locker room. Their colleagues ran in upon hearing her cries for help.

She repeated that Lim had tried to rape her, so they detained him and she called her brother, who made a police report.

For criminal intimidation, that is, threatening to use a dangerous weapon to voluntarily cause hurt to the victim, Lim could have been jailed up to 10 years or fined, or punished with both. 

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court crime knife molest colleague threaten criminal intimidation

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