Doctor who harassed, restrained ex-girlfriend sentenced to 2-year mandatory treatment order

An aesthetic doctor who hounded his former girlfriend incessantly as their relationship broke down was sentenced to a two-year mandatory treatment order on Sept 4.

Offenders given such an order have to undergo treatment to address their conditions in lieu of time behind bars.

Chua Cheng Yu, 40, had pleaded guilty earlier in August to four charges - use of criminal force; causing intentional harassment, alarm and distress; voluntarily causing hurt; and unlawful restraint.

Chua was represented by lawyers Sunil Sudheesan and Joyce Khoo, who were quoted in court documents as saying that their client suffered from major depressive disorder.

The lawyers from Quahe Woo & Palmer added that a doctor from the Institute of Mental Health found that the disorder had a contributory link to Chua's offending behaviour.

They told the court: "Since our client's offending, (he) has received treatment regularly... and has been taking the medication he has been prescribed by his doctors.

"Our client now has deep insight into his mental condition and will keep up with the efforts to ensure that he stays on the straight and narrow."

In earlier proceedings, the court heard that Chua had met his former girlfriend when he worked at Veritas Medical Aesthetics, a clinic he founded.

In 2022, she and Chua started a romantic relationship, which was plagued with constant quarrels and disagreements, according to court documents. Their relationship had soured by March 2023.

On April 1 that year, he went to her apartment, forced his way inside when she opened the door and began to throw items around her home.

Chua believed that she was cheating on him, and decided to take her laptop and hair dryer in the midst of the argument.

During the scuffle, he pushed her, causing her to hit her head against a wall. He then left the apartment with the items.

Around an hour later, he returned to the apartment but became angry when she did not reply to his questions.

He left again before returning once more after 10pm. They started arguing again, and Chua snatched her phone and a remote control to the gate of her condominium.

During another scuffle, she fell backwards and hit her head on the floor after Chua pushed her. He then drove off with her belongings in his car.

Chua returned to her home at midnight and asked her to meet at the lobby of the condominium so he could return her phone in exchange for her apartment key. He ran away after receiving the key.

On May 24, 2023, Chua picked her up after a dinner to take her home.

When they arrived at her place, he said he wanted to "secure their relationship" by keeping some of his belongings at her place. He also requested that she store some of her belongings at his home.

She turned down his requests and left his car to go back to her apartment.

An angry Chua messaged and called her multiple times on Telegram. When he did not get a response, he texted her using the messaging feature on a mobile game and threatened to share intimate photos of her.

On March 1, 2024, she received and ignored several calls from Chua while she was at work.

At around 10pm, she left the office and had just stepped out when Chua pulled up in his car.

He alighted to talk to her despite multiple rejections before crying and begging for her to get into his car.

When she continued to reject his entreaties, Chua became angry and grabbed her in a bear hug.

He managed to shove her into the car and slammed the door shut before speeding off.

She told him that she needed to feed her cats at home and he agreed to drive to her apartment.

When they were close to her home, she jumped out of a car window while he was preoccupied with her phone. She then ran across the road to her condo.

CCTV footage from the condo shows Chua sprinting after her and tackling her to the ground before dragging her across the road towards his car.

She struggled free of Chua's grip and ran to a condo security guard. He shielded her from Chua, who quickly returned to his car and drove off with her belongings.

She suffered abrasions and bruises on her body from the incident.

Chua was found and arrested at the basement of a hotel in Novena at 3.14am on March 2, 2024.