Man gets month in jail for hurling Ofo bicycle from 14th floor after arguing with wife over wedding attire

SINGAPORE — After an argument with his wife in 2021 over what to wear to their wedding reception, Mohammad Noor Iszuan Noordin stormed out of his home and spotted a yellow bicycle parked outside his flat.

In a fit of anger, the 26-year-old picked up the bicycle and tossed it over the parapet from the 14th floor of the public housing block in Chua Chu Kang.

The bicycle weighed 25kg and was a model used by the now-defunct bike-sharing firm Ofo, which lost its licence to operate in Singapore in 2019.

No injuries were reported from this incident.

In court on Thursday (Dec 15), a prosecutor argued that the lack of any injuries by passers-by was due to pure luck.

Iszuan was handed a one-month jail term after he pleaded guilty to a single charge of committing a rash act.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The court heard that the incident occurred at Block 684B Choa Chu Kang Crescent around 7.15pm on Jan 23 last year.

Court documents stated that at the time, the couple was already married. It did not elaborate on how the argument between the couple unfolded.

A member of the public called the police about 15 minutes later to report that someone had thrown a bicycle down from the building.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Yeow Xuan said that when police officers visited his flat two days later, Iszuan lied and initially denied any involvement.

Even though he had no past convictions related to committing rash acts, she said that Iszuan has been convicted with housebreaking and theft-related offences in recent years.

His defence lawyer, Mr Anand Nalachandran from Forte Law, asked for two weeks’ jail.

He noted that his client has borderline intellectual functioning and has had no further brushes with the law since the killer-litter offence in January.

“It was an emotional reaction. Of course he shouldn’t have done it. He realises that,” the lawyer said.

Noting that the prosecution had argued that Iszuan did not check to see if there was anyone below the housing block before he threw the bike down, Mr Anand countered that this was consistent with his act being an emotional outburst.

Had he checked and still thrown the bicycle down, then the court should instead be handing him a heavier sentence, he argued.

Mr Anand said that there was no indication that anybody was injured or even close to being injured because of what Iszuan did.

However, DPP Yeow, who sought at least six weeks’ jail, said that the potential harm of throwing a bicycle from height cannot be downplayed.

“It was merely fortuitous that nobody was injured,” she added.

For a rash act endangering the personal safety of others, Noor could have been jailed for up to six months, fined up to S$2,500, or both.