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Road rage biker who punched through Volkswagen driver's window jailed 3 weeks


whizzard

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A motorcyclist who punched and shattered the window of a Volkswagen in a road rage incident on Nov 16, was sentenced to three weeks' jail yesterday.

 

But Briton James George Palin (right), 33, is appealing against the sentence and is out on $15,000 bail. The former regional director of a recruitment company, riding on his motorcycle on Tanjong Katong Road, had hit the bumper of a car driven by legal officer Chiang Pak Chien while overtaking him, reports The Straits Times.

 

Mr Chiang, 43, who was with his girlfriend, Valerie Tan Hsu Phen, 42, overtook Palin, who had not stopped his motorcycle.

Palin sped past him again and braked immediately in front of the car. Mr Chiang slammed on his brakes to avoid crashing into the motorcycle and told his girlfriend to call the police.

 

This was when Palin walked over to the driver's side and punched the glass, which shattered over the couple. Palin fled on his bike.

Both Mr Chiang and Ms Tan, who are now married, each suffered cuts on their body, face, neck, arms and legs, and were both given a week's outpatient leave.

 

Ms Tan, who saw a psychiatrist, was diagnosed with acute stress disorder with severe anxiety. She avoids the Tanjong Katong stretch of road where the incident happened, and gets anxious and has palpitations when she sees "aggressive looking" motorcycles, according to a psychiatric report.

 

Palin's lawyer Shashi Nathan said his client claimed that the car had bumped into his motorcycle.

Palin regretted what he had done, and had offered to pay for the couple's medical expenses and for the damage to the car, an offer which they had turned down.

 

District Judge Hamidah Ibrahim said Palin's reaction was excessive and totally disproportionate, and agreed with the prosecution that there should be a jail term.

 

Palin could have been jailed for up to one year and fined up to $5,000 for causing hurt by doing a rash act to endanger the personal safety of others. For more stories like this, visit Courtroom.

 

 

What would you do if you encountered a similar situation?  Anyway, here's the video below.

 

http://www.fivestarsandamoon.com/video-biker-smashes-drivers-window-with-fist/

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I have no love for anyone who think they own the road, especially visitors to Singapore.

 

At the start, you can see clearly he was already within the turning right lane. Yet he went straight - so he probably came to the junction after the VW and wanted to squeeze the VW out of his lane.

 

Yet, after he smashed the VW window unprovoked, he claims the VW driver was trying to run him off the road.

 

3 weeks jail is too light. For such a serious case I would say minimum 2-3 months

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If the pert is local and not AMG....what do you all think will his sentence?

Sigh.....many riders ride like there is no tomorrow....I uses to ride too...but do not ride like nowadays rider.....

sigh......

Spoon feeding teaches you nothing....but the shape of the spoon...

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If the pert is local and not AMG....what do you all think will his sentence?

Sigh.....many riders ride like there is no tomorrow....I uses to ride too...but do not ride like nowadays rider.....

sigh......

Bro bicycle and motorcycle is different leh. Ang mo lan tua ki bor bian.

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Agree with all of you here...

He should have accepted the sentence if he regretted the incident.

Hope the Appeal Judge will increase the 3 weeks sentence which i think is too light.

Road Rages are on the rise!

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I dont know why people like to say "angmo lan tua ki" which is a gross generalisation.

Whether they are locals, China Chinese, Malaysian Chinese, Bangladeshi, Pinoys, caucasian expats, etc, we welcome and respect them if they behave properly. But if they already have a dislike for locals or are already racist, and yet want to come here to make a few bucks, I'd say show them the finger! Just like that anton fella.

I live in an area where about 70% are angmo expats and I can tell you that most of them are arrogant a55h#les with a dislike for locals. I have confronted a few angmos who let their dogs poop in the garden and insist on not cleaning up. I told one guy off and he said he has no pocket to bring a plastic bag so I told him I will get him a bag there and then, he said OK but walked off. I shouted after him and he said "tell you what, I have decided not to clean up, go ask your police to come get me".

This motorcyclist is typical of these "I am better than you locals" expats. For me, I will make it clear that they are not welcome.

Much as I loathe to say it but many a times I would like to say to such obnoxious morons to 'go back to where you came from, Singapore is way too crowded for you'.

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But having said that, it is precisely our anti-road rage laws which has bred quite a few motorists who are just arrogant pricks, ready to quarrel over small matters. These people will never dare to behave this way just across the border.

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3 weeks is a light sentence. As this case involve personal harm and property damage, I would think he should at least be treated to some rotan and 2-3 months jail term. 

 

With the criminal record i suppose he would have any work permit revoked and difficulty re-entering into Sg? Good riddance.

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Wah, luckily the fellow got a dash-cam in the car.  Otherwise, it will be a case of "his words against my words".  Look at the kind of incredulous excuses given in court!!

 

 

Zul Othman | The New Paper | Thursday, Oct 2, 2014 SINGAPORE -

 

The incident lasted less than a minute. But it left a woman passenger in a car scared, screaming and fearing for her fiance's life.

 

Briton James George Palin confronted, abused and then smashed the couple's car window on Tanjong Katong Road on Nov 16 last year.

 

On Monday, the State Courts heard that the 33-year-old Briton punched and shattered the window of a Volkswagen, while the driver, Mr Chiang Pak Chien and his then fiancee, Ms Tan Hsu Phen, sat stunned in the car. Footage from the attack was captured on Mr Chiang's in-car camera system and shown in court on Monday.

 

By the end of the hour-long hearing, Palin - formerly the regional director of a recruitment company - pleaded guilty and was jailed three weeks for causing hurt by a rash act.

 

On the day of the incident, the victims, both legal counsels, were travelling on the right lane of the two-lane Tanjong Katong Road at 9.40am. Palin and a woman pillion rider were travelling on the right of Mr Chiang's car. Palin overtook the car and his motorcycle knocked its front right bumper. Mr Chiang, 43, did not react to the collision, continued driving and overtook the motorcycle. The driver then heard "two loud thuds" on the front right window, which he believed was Palin banging on the car to get his attention.

 

Palin then overtook Mr Chiang's car again and stopped suddenly in the middle of the busy road. Mr Chiang had to apply the emergency brake to avoid a collision.

 

Before both the driver and his passenger could recover from the shock, Palin walked over to the car and shouted: "What the **** are you doing?" The couple was too shocked to respond. Palin then slammed his gloved fist into Mr Chiang's side window. The blow shattered the window. Bits of glass fell on the couple, cutting them. Ms Tan, 42, screamed and Palin and his unidentified pillion rider then got on his bike and rode off.

 

The victims, who have since married, suffered superficial cuts to their body, face, neck, arms and legs. Doctors gave them a week's medical leave. But the effect on Ms Tan could be more damaging, the court heard on Monday.

 

Assistant Public Prosecutor (APP) Koh Huimin said that since the incident, Ms Tan has suffered "frequent flashbacks, and intrusive involuntary and distressing memories of the event".

 

NIGHTMARES

Ms Tan has had nightmares, insomnia and has been diagnosed with acute stress disorder. This means she gets anxious whenever she sees "aggressive-looking" motorcyclists or when motorcyclists get too close to her car or cut into her lane, APP Koh said.

 

She also pressed for a custodial sentence of three weeks as Palin "had aggressively forced" the victims to a stop and confronted them. Furthermore, he showed no remorse because he simply rode away after causing hurt to the victims. District Judge Hamidah Ibrahim agreed with the prosecution and sentenced him to jail because his reaction to the encounter was both "excessive" and "totally disproportionate".

 

Palin, who is between jobs, could have been jailed for up to one year and/or fined up to $5,000 for the offence. He is appealing against the sentence and is now out on $15,000 bail.

 

WHAT HAPPENED THAT DAY

Footage from Mr Chiang Pak Chien's in-car camera was shown during the hearing at the State Courts on Monday. This is what it revealed:

1. At 9.46am on Nov 16 last year, James George Palin overtakes Mr Chiang Pak Chien's car from the right while both are travelling along Tanjong Katong Road. Palin then stops his motorcycle in the middle of the road and gets off. Mr Chiang's then fiancee, Ms Tan Hsu Phen, who is in the passenger's seat, tells Mr Chiang to "lock the doors" and not retaliate.

2. Palin walks over to Mr Chiang's side window and shouts, "What the **** are you doing?" At this point, Ms Tan screams. Palin's unidentified female pillion looks on as the 33-year-old Briton smashes Mr Chiang's window. Witnesses say he used his right hand to hit the window.

3. At this point, Ms Tan calls the police: "A motorbike rider FBB77 (sic) hitting my window!" Meanwhile, Palin returns to his motorcycle.

4. At 9.47am, Palin and his unidentified companion ride away from the scene.

 

A witness sees Palin shatter the glass. Another witness, who is in his office in a nearby building, also calls the police. 'He did not expect window to break' James George Palin claimed he was "dangerously squeezed" between the victim's car and the road divider. And at that time, Palin "gently knocked on the window" of Mr Chiang Pak Chien's car to get his attention, defence lawyer Shashi Nathan told the State Courts in mitigation on Monday.

 

Mr Nathan said Palin also felt "extremely resentful" that Mr Chiang appeared to be "unapologetic and seemed to show no regard for the safety of motorcyclists". Palin then rode in front of Mr Chiang's car along Tanjong Katong Road on Nov 16 last year, stopped and alighted from his bike. He then went to Mr Chiang's side window to talk, said the lawyer. After both vehicles stopped, "Mr Palin intended to hit the window to get the driver's attention". "He did not expect the window to break," said Mr Nathan.

 

THICK GLOVES

He also urged the court to consider that Palin was wearing "thick riding gloves and a helmet when he tapped the side window". "This would have contributed to his error in judging what he thought would have been a firm but non-destructive knock on the window," said Mr Nathan.

 

But Assistant Public Prosecutor Koh Huimin said the damage to Mr Chiang's side window and the injuries to the Palin's right hand indicated that substantial force was used. There was no evidence from the footage from Mr Chiang's in-car camera that Palin was trying to get Mr Chiang's attention by pulling over to talk, she said.

 

PAST ROAD RAGE CASES

APRIL 2014

A motorist who pushed a motorcyclist off his bike was jailed for a day on Aug 6 and fined $3,000. Australian Nathan Adrian Tallack, 39, pleaded guilty to pushing Lee Yao Rong Muhammad Saifuddin Ilyan Lee and disturbing public peace by fighting with him on April 1.

 

JULY 2013

A technical manager was jailed two weeks for hurting a cabby. Briton Christopher Gordon Sang, 43, was in his sports car when he came across taxi driver Liu San Chuang, 65. The incident happened on July 19 last year at Dahlia Park condominium in Changi. The cabby had wound down the window and used his right hand to signal for Sang to overtake him. Instead, Sang got out of his car, walked towards the taxi, opened the passenger door behind the driver's seat and pushed Mr Liu's head forward while mumbling some words.

 

JUNE 2013

A catering executive who hurt a motorist was sentenced to eight weeks in jail. Fizul Asrul Efandi, 28, was found guilty of punching Mr Leow Ching Khuan, 28, in the mouth and pushing him in the chest at the junction of Lentor Avenue and Yishun Avenue 1 at about 2.30am on June 30 last year. - See more at: http://transport.asiaone.com/news/general/story/road-rage-tanjong-katong-biker-smashes-drivers-window-fist?page=0%2C3#sthash.OR5SJe7G.dpuf

 

2elfic1.jpg

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I have just seen the video.  To be fair, I think the car driver is partly to be blamed for squeezing past the motor-cyclist without giving him much room, not once but twice.

He could have let the motor-cyclist go but it seems that he sped up to overtake him.  I think he did it deliberately.

I can feel for the motor-cyclist as I do ride too.

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