Judge blasts youth for asking for short sentence
Three youths were convicted this morning for joining an unlawful assembly with a deadly weapon.
But it was how one of them behaved in court that got the judge riled up.
Garrick Ng Kai Le, 18, Lim Jia Cai, 17 and Brendon Siak Kai Jun, 16, had pleaded guilty to the offence in a community court.
They were part of a group that had met for settlement talks on Jan 29 at Block 635 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 6 after Siak's girlfriend got into a dispute with someone else.
Their rival group included a 15-year-old boy.
When Siak's group arrived at about 8.30pm, a 15-year-old girl from their group told the boy he had to pay for their taxi fare since he had called for the talks.
He refused and later a member of Siak's group punched him in the eye, causing it to swell.
In court today, Ng, who was bespectacled with copper tinged hair, was looking around and smiling.
He was blasted by Community Court Judge Lim Keng Yeow when he asked for a short sentence so he could get it "over and done with".
Raising his voice, Judge Lim said: "What kind of attitude is this? Stop and think. Are you here to take responsibility or are you here to 'get this over and done with'?"
The three will be sentenced on April 30.
Read the full report in our print edition on Saturday (April 11).
Subscribe to The New Paper, now available in print and digital, at http://bit.ly/tnpeshop.
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now