15 months' jail each for 2 men who damaged SBS bus & assaulted bus captain

Two men who damaged an SBS bus and assaulted a bus captain have been sentenced to 15 months' jail each. 

Sin Teck Hock, 46, and You Yee Chong, 41, admitted that they hurt the bus captain John Achin at about 11pm on 9 November 2011. 

Before the attack, they were with a few friends at a coffeeshop near Hougang Avenue 1. 

The group consumed more than 20 bottles of beer. 

Sin, who parked his lorry at the entrance of the bus bay, was angry when Mr John sounded the horn once to alert him to move the vehicle away. 

He went back to the coffeeshop, armed himself with a crate of empty beer bottles and threw the bottles at the bus. 

The other accused joined in. 

The pair smashed open the front door's glass panel, got into the bus and bashed the 36-year-old driver. 

In mitigation, lawyer Kertar Singh said You, a Malaysian, had been a teetotaller. 

He said the father-of-two lost his wife a month before the incident and that his two children are in Malaysia. 

As for Sin, Mr Kertar said the deliveryman, also a father of two, has been taking care of his wife, a mental health patient, for the past 16 years. 

He said Sin's actions were "totally out of character". 

Mr Kertar said both men are remorseful and have paid for the full costs of repairing the bus, as well as the loss of the use of the vehicle. 

They have also offered compensation to the victim. 

The lawyer said Sin and You have also attended therapy and counselling to give up alcoholism. 

But Assistant Public Prosecutor Dillon Kok pointed out that this was one of the worst cases of assault on a public transport worker. 

He described the level of boldness in "savagely attacking a helpless victim" as "unprecedented". 

APP Kok said the aggravating factors are overwhelming and pressed for deterrent sentences. 

District Judge Hamidah Ibrahim agreed, saying the level of hooliganism and sheer boldness of the two men were "appalling, audacious and shocking". 

She pointed out that the thuggish behaviour had occurred at a public place, caused alarm and fear not only to the driver, but also to his passengers. 

The two men did not stop their attack when police officers arrived. 

The victim, she added, was deeply traumatised. 

"A clear and unmistakable signal must be sent out that no such attacks will be tolerated," she said.