Man jailed for throwing flower pots from 15th floor

SINGAPORE: A drunk man who returned home to find the gate padlocked by his father got frustrated and threw two heavy flower pots off the 15th floor.

Goh Tiong Keng, 53, was jailed for four weeks on Thursday (Jun 3) for one count of a rash act endangering the personal safety of others. A second charge of appearing drunk outside his father's flat was considered in sentencing.

The court heard that Goh lived with his father, a 73-year-old man, in a flat at Telok Blangah Heights.

Sometime before 10pm on Nov 5 last year, Goh returned home drunk and found that his father had padlocked the gate. He knocked on the door and rang the bell.

His father called the police. 

The police arrived and asked Goh to leave the area. They then left the scene.

But Goh was frustrated with his father and so he loitered around outside the flat. Then, in a fit of rage, he threw out two of his father's flower pots, said the prosecutor.

The pots landed on a bed of plants and did not injure anyone.

The police received a phone call from a man who told them "upstairs block keep throwing things down" and that something "created a big sound" when it dropped.

Goh was arrested and a blood sample taken from him was found to contain 176mg of ethanol per 100ml of blood.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Krystle Chiang asked for at least four weeks' jail after considering his previous two-week stint in remand. She said killer litter cases are ordinarily punished with stiff jail sentences for deterrence and public policy reasons.

She added that there was a high degree of danger as Goh threw heavy items from a significant height and that he had self-induced intoxication.

Defence lawyer Periowsamy Otharam, who was assigned the case under the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme, said his client has been a good citizen who has been living with his father.

He claimed that the "bad temper" of his client's father has caused all other family members including Goh's mother to move out of the home.

"But he continues to live there because he says someone has to take care of his father," said the lawyer. "He knows his father is a bad-tempered guy ... He knows how to live with his father in spite of his bad temper ... He's been residing with his father at this address since his birth."

The prosecutor responded by saying that Goh's brother lives in the same block.

The judge said the fact that the two pots were smashed when they landed on the ground floor "speaks for itself".

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