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Top eye specialist gets mandatory treatment order for tailgating driver, throwing wine bottle

SINGAPORE — The head of the ophthalmology department at JurongHealth Campus, who was diagnosed with major depressive disorder after being involved in a road rage incident, was sentenced to a mandatory treatment order for one year on Wednesday (March 18).

In an incident last year, veteran eye specialist Lennard Harold Thean See Yin tailgated a Grab driver’s car and threw an unopened wine bottle at it.

In an incident last year, veteran eye specialist Lennard Harold Thean See Yin tailgated a Grab driver’s car and threw an unopened wine bottle at it.

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SINGAPORE — The head of the ophthalmology department at JurongHealth Campus, who was diagnosed with major depressive disorder after being involved in a road rage incident, was sentenced to a mandatory treatment order for one year on Wednesday (March 18).

A mandatory treatment order is a community sentencing option offered to offenders suffering from mental conditions that contributed to the offence. 

Lennard Harold Thean See Yin pleaded guilty last month to tailgating a Grab driver’s car and throwing an unopened wine bottle at the private hire driver’s vehicle.

The veteran eye specialist was kidnapped as a child and suffered from “morbid fears of mortality”, a psychiatrist testified in a district court then.

However, Thean — also a senior consultant at Ng Teng Fong General Hospital and Jurong Medical Campus — was able to function and became a qualified doctor. He is also not a danger to his patients, the psychiatrist said.

District Judge Marvin Bay said on Wednesday that there were “exceptional circumstances” that led to the offences, which did not result in any injuries.

Thean has since sought treatment from the Institute of Mental Health and is “responding well”, the judge added.

Even though Thean had received a professional award in January last year, his mental state deteriorated the next month and he was diagnosed with an elevated risk of heart disease. 

His wife lodged a police report when he suffered an emotional breakdown as well. He had left the house after an argument, saying he never wanted to return again, which “caused sufficient alarm” to his wife to report it to the police.

On March 18 last year, the day of the incident, District Judge Bay said that a near-collision with the victim “triggered an apparent fight or flight reflex where he had experienced both fear and anxiety”.

WHAT HAPPENED

The court heard last month that on the night of the incident, Grab driver Martin Lu picked up two passengers who wanted to go to Queen Astrid Park, located around the Bukit Timah area.

On the way there, Mr Lu stopped about two metres beyond the stop line at the entrance to a roundabout. 

Thean, who was coming from Mr Lu’s right and had the right of way, was forced to brake to avoid a potential accident. He sounded his horn and Mr Lu waved his hand in apology before entering the roundabout and driving on.

Angered by Mr Lu’s driving, Thean pursued him while repeatedly sounding his horn for at least 20 seconds.

Mr Lu’s passengers alighted about a minute later at their house, which was close to a dead end. As they alighted, Thean pulled up next to Mr Lu’s car and wound down his window while shouting and gesturing aggressively at him.

Wanting to avoid a confrontation, Mr Lu drove closer to the dead end, intending to make a three-point turn to head back.

However, Thean followed closely beside him, cutting off his space. Mr Lu responded by accelerating and suddenly braking so that Thean would be ahead of him.

“The victim then quickly reversed his car to create space between his car and the accused’s car in order to make the three-point turn. Seeing that, the accused himself hastily made a three-point turn and accelerated forward to block the victim’s path,” Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Kumaresan Gohulabalan told the court.

Mr Lu, however, managed to create enough space to turn. As he did so, Thean continued inching towards him and then threw an unopened glass wine bottle at the rear of Mr Lu’s car.

The bottle hit the left tail light of Mr Lu’s car. 

Thean continued to pursue the other man for another minute till they got to the earlier roundabout again.

Anticipating that Mr Lu would turn right, Thean overtook him and turned right, driving against the flow of traffic at the roundabout. Mr Lu quickly turned left to escape and drove to a small alley to check his car.

He lodged a police report two days later.

 

 

Related topics

court crime road rage

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