Ex-S'pore reporter, 50, beats neighbour with mop & throws eggs at her for jumping rope

A woman beat her neighbour with a mop and threw eggs at her after she felt the noise the neighbour made from rope skipping was disturbing her son.

While arguing with her husband about parenting styles, Jessinta Tan Suat Lin, 50, also threatened to tell the police that he had raped her.

The same night, she told her teenage son that she would kill his father in his sleep.

Tan, a housewife, formerly worked as a reporter with news platforms, including Today, according to The Straits Times.

Threw eggs at neighbour, assaulted her with mop

The court heard that Tan was residing at Westmont, a condominium along West Coast Road, with her son and husband, ST and CNA reported.

On the evening of Feb. 16, 2024, Tan's neighbour, a 26-year-old master's degree student, began exercising with a skipping rope in a common area near the swimming pool.

Tan, who was in her home, was unhappy with the noise because her son wanted to rest. So she approached her neighbour and asked her to stop.

When the neighbour refused, Tan hurled profanities at her.

At around 9:50pm, Tan threw five or six eggs at the victim from a window, hitting her back with some of them.

10 minutes later, Tan came down with a mop from her apartment and got into a scuffle with the victim.

When the victim grabbed the mop, Tan bit her on the arm.

Tan then hit her on the head with the mop so hard, the victim sustained injuries and the mop's aluminium handle broke into three pieces.

When the victim moved away and called the police, Tan threw a bag of rubbish and an incense bin at her but missed.

The victim was taken to the hospital with bleeding on her forehead, bruises and a swollen bite mark on her arm.

She later moved out of the condominium due to the incident.

Tan was arrested and bailed out by her husband.

Threatened to kill husband in his sleep

On the night of Apr. 28, Tan got into an argument with her husband as he refused to leave the bedroom when their son wanted to practise a speech.

He also got upset at Tan for speaking to their son in a rough manner.

At about 8:45pm, Tan texted her husband a message with vulgar language, threatening to jump bail. This would have caused him to lose the S$2,000 he put down to guarantee she would appear in court.

Less than an hour later, she told their son, as reported by ST: 

"I will just kill him one day. He might just die one day in his sleep. One day, when I am really mad, he will die in his sleep. He better lock his door when he sleeps at night."

She also threatened her husband, telling him she would tell the police he raped her.

Tan's husband lodged a police report against Tan that night.

Accused suffered from anxiety, depression: Defence

On Jan. 2, Tan pleaded guilty to committing a rash act, voluntarily causing hurt and causing alarm with threatening words, according to CNA and ST.

Two other charges will be taken into consideration for her sentencing.

Tan’s defence lawyer told the court that Tan was a "loving mother" and had a strained relationship with her husband.

The lawyer pleaded for leniency for Tan, saying that she suffers from anxiety and depression, and regrets her actions, ST reported.

There were no further comments in court about the rape allegations.

The lawyer also argued that the assault on her neighbour was an isolated incident, saying that Tan was prepared to apologise and compensate the victim, according to CNA.

In response, the prosecution said that Tan's medical reports did not show that her mixed anxiety disorder had any causal link to the offences.

He pointed out that Tan did not seek psychiatric help after attacking her neighbour, and subsequently reoffended against her husband.

The judge called for a report to determine Tan’s suitability for a mandatory treatment order.

Mothership understands that Tan's sentencing has been adjourned to Feb. 11.

Top image from Jessinta Tan/Facebook & Canva