Entertainment lawyer Samuel Seow has pleaded guilty to one charge each of voluntarily causing hurt and using criminal force in altercations with two of his employees in 2018.
According to CNA, an additional charge of using criminal force and a charge under the Protection from Harassment Act will be taken into consideration for sentencing.
Seow owned two companies — Beam Artistes and Samuel Seow Corporate. The victims were employed by Seow.
The first is 21-year-old Rachel Kang Pei Shan, an artiste and events executive at Beam Artistes.
The second victim is 26-year-old Brenda Kong Shin Ying, a lawyer at Samuel Seow Corporate. Kong is also Seow's niece.
Both incidents happened on the same day, April 17, 2018, at the law firm at South Bridge Road.
CNA reported that Seow reprimanded Kang when she failed to provide a proper account of her work before she left the office.
Angered, Seow forcefully poked Kang's forehead twice with his finger and pushed a file that she was holding, causing her to stagger backwards.
The incident was captured by closed-circuit television cameras. Kong also witnessed it.
Subsequently, Seow asked for the whereabouts of an associate director. Kong heard her uncle's question but did not answer.
However, she left her phone on voice-recording mode after witnessing the incident with Kang.
Seow then repeated his question, this time to Kong. Kong replied that the associate director had a meeting outside. Seow then became angry and demanded to know why Kang did not reply earlier.
The situation quickly turned into a series of physical assaults by both parties and screams were heard. Staff in the office tried to restrain Seow while Kong managed to leave.
CNA reported that Kong suffered tenderness over her cheek, scalp, and arm. She also sustained a bruise on her arm and an abrasion on her thigh, which was accompanied by another bruise.
A video of the attack together with the audio recording was uploaded onto YouTube on April 26, 2019.
A Newton hearing will also be held to determine if Seow had a mental condition.
A Newton Hearing may be convened at any stage of the sentencing process when there is a dispute as to facts which may materially affect the sentence to be imposed on a person following his conviction
For voluntarily causing hurt, Seow can be jailed for up to two years, fined up to S$5,000, or both.
For using criminal force, he can be jailed for up to three months, fined up to S$1,500 fine, or both.
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