'Utterly shameful': Man gets 13 weeks' jail for spitting bubble tea pearls at teens, stealing e-bike batteries

SINGAPORE — Feeling bored and thinking it would bring him amusement, 25-year-old Toh Jun Sheng decided to spit bubble tea pearls at five secondary school students, actions described by a judge as “utterly shameful”. 

Toh, now aged 27, was sentenced to 13 weeks’ jail and a fine of S$3,000 after pleading guilty on Monday (Nov 14) to two charges of criminal force and three unrelated charges. Five other charges were taken into consideration. 

WHAT HAPPENED 

On March 9, 2021 at around 5.50pm, two female secondary school students aged 14 and 15 were walking along Victoria Street. 

At the time, Toh was riding his e-bike along the same street and he shouted “Hoi!” when he neared them. 

After hearing his shout, the two teenagers immediately gave way to Toh.

However, as Toh rode past, he spat bubble tea pearls at them. 

The pearls hit the first teenager’s head over her tudung and several of them remained stuck there. 

Several pearls also hit the second girl’s back, while the other pearls dropped to the floor after they hit the teenagers. 

Deputy Public Prosecutor Dan Pan said: “(They) did not do anything which would constitute grave and sudden provocation of the accused.” 

But Toh was not done. 

That same evening, he spat bubble tea pearls at three other secondary students who were near Victoria Street. 

“The accused committed the acts of spitting pearls at the five young victims as he was bored and he thought it was funny to do so,” Mr Pan said. 

The students then reported the incident to their teacher, who lodged a police report.

Toh also pleaded guilty to two charges of theft and one charge of mischief. 

He stole an e-bike battery on May 18, 2021 and another two on May 21, 2021 from the same person. 

On a separate occasion, he also worked with an accomplice to cut off the front and back brakes of two bicycles belonging to another man. 

According to court documents, Toh was working as a food deliveryman at the time. 

'UTTERLY SHAMEFUL'

In delivering the sentence, District Judge Eugene Teo called Toh’s actions of spitting bubble tea pearls at the students “utterly shameful and not funny at all”.

“Do you think you are still a teenager? You are standing before the court as a fully grown adult and for you to be doing these kind of things to people who have done you no harm is utterly inexcusable,” he said. 

The judge added: “You must learn to handle freedom and learn to show that you are deserving of the right to determine your own life.”

For using criminal force, Toh could have been jailed for up to three months, or fined up to S$1,500 or both.