PMD rider, aged 20, who rode on Bukit Panjang shelter, sentenced to 12 months reformative training

Previously, the accused had beat two red lights to escape from police.

Karen Lui | July 17, 2021, 03:10 PM

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A personal mobility device rider, who was arrested in November 2019 after he was seen on video riding on top of a sheltered walkway in Bukit Panjang, has been sentenced to 12 months of reformative training.

The man, Reuben Koh, now aged 20, faced 20 charges.

The prosecution proceeded with eight of those charges.

They include two counts of rash acts, two counts of using criminal force to deter a public servant from the discharge of his duty, one count of violating harassment laws, one count of violating traffic laws, one count of rash act causing injury to others, and one count of violating Land Transport Authority's laws.

12 months of reformative training

The accused had pleaded guilty earlier and on July 14, the court sentenced him to 12 months in a reformative training centre.

According to Lianhe Wanbao, the accused, then 19 years old, was riding his friend's personal mobility device (PMD) on a sheltered walkway near Block 180 along Lompang Road in the Bukit Panjang area.

The accused had also asked his friends to record a video of him performing the act, which was later circulated on social media platforms.

Wanbao reported that the accused was about 3m off the ground when he was on top of the sheltered walkway.

Previous record

Prior to the sheltered walkway incident, the accused had previous PMD-related brushes with the law.

On June 17, 2018, at around 5am, the accused was riding along Tampines Avenue 4, when two police officers on patrol noticed that he was not wearing a helmet.

The two police officers who were in the police car approached the accused and told him to ride on the pavement.

The accused did not heed their warning and even accelerated to flee the scene.

According to Wanbao, he was travelling at a speed in excess of 80kmh.

As the police officers pursued him in their car, the accused continued fleeing, beating two red lights in the process. The police finally detained him at Tampines Central 1.

The accused's PMD was confiscated by the police as it was found to be an unregistered PMD.

Pushed two LTA officers

Wanbao also reported that the convicted man had a brush with two LTA officers in a separate incident.

At around 6pm on Sept. 24, 2019, two LTA officers were on duty near Hong San Terrace.

They were notified earlier that the accused was riding his PMD in a dangerous manner on the pavement in the vicinity.

Upon locating the accused, the two LTA officers identified themselves to him. The accused started to turn the handlebar accelerator, appearing to make an attempt to flee.

One of the officers immediately grabbed hold of the PMD to prevent the accused from escaping.

During the struggle with the LTA officers, the accused allegedly used his hands to hit both of their chests. The police arrived shortly to the scene as the LTA officers had called them earlier.

Displeased with the situation, the accused then shared a post on Instagram with expletives directed at the two LTA officers. He also added that he regretted not beating them up at that time.

Flung chair at his mother

The convicted man was also involved in a domestic incident.

On May 23, 2017, at around 11pm, the accused's girlfriend was still in his bedroom.

Noting that it was late, the accused's mother shouted from her own bedroom, telling her son's girlfriend to go home.

Upon hearing that, the accused immediately went to his mother's bedroom and threw a wooden chair at her, which hit her in the chest area.

His mother reported the incident to the police three days later.

Prior to announcing the sentence on July 15, the judge told the accused that he needed to accept his punishment for violating the law and learn his lesson.

Despite the violence that the accused had inflicted on his mother in the past, she attended the court session with him on July 15, 2021, Wanbao reported.

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