Mandatory treatment order for woman who hit mother, verbally abused police officer

SINGAPORE — A 33-year-old woman who assaulted her mother at their Toa Payoh flat and hurled vulgarities at a police officer will have to abide by a two-year mandatory treatment order imposed by the State Courts on Wednesday (May 16).

The main trigger for Cheryl Sng Yu Qin’s actions was depression but no other details of her mental conditions were revealed during the hearing.

Sng pleaded guilty to three charges last month. Besides the charges related to assault and verbal abuse, she admitted to obstructing a public servant from performing his duties.

Two other charges of assault involving her parents, as well as three charges of verbally abusing three other police officers, were taken into consideration for sentencing.

Sng had a dispute with her mother, Mdm Yee May Hoe, 59, on the evening of May 11 last year, the court heard. Her 68-year-old father called the police about an hour later, citing a “family problem”.

When Staff Sergeant Gerald Ng arrived and approached Sng to ask about what happened, Sng hit her mother on her back with her left hand. She then told the police officer, “I am hitting my mum”, when he asked her what she was doing.

Staff Sergeant Ng’s attempts to calm Sng down failed. Agitated and refusing to cooperate, she verbally abused him using obscenities several times and challenged him to sue her for using vulgar language.

She refused to provide personal particulars, but went into her room to cool down on Staff Sergeant Ng’s request.

Later, as the officer was taking a statement from Mdm Yee, Sng heard her mother revealing her personal particulars. She emerged from her room, snatched the statement from the officer’s hands and tore it up.

Offenders given a mandatory treatment order will receive treatment for their mental condition instead of jail time. The order can be revoked if they fail to meet the conditions of the order.

For voluntarily causing hurt to Mdm Yee, Sng, who was represented by lawyer Muntaz Zainuddin, could have been jailed up to two years and fined up to S$5,000.

For verbally abusing a public servant, she could have been jailed for up to a year and fined up to S$5,000.