Ferrari driver in court over tree row

A tree pruner was trapped high above the ground in a crane's bucket after a homeowner took the key to the vehicle and drove off with it.

Shi Ka Yee, 73, who has hit the headlines several times this year for offences involving her Ferrari car, did it as she was furious her neighbour, Mr Nasrat Muzayyin, was having a raintree pruned as it was encroaching into his driveway.

Their bungalows are in Astrid Hill, off Holland Road.

After entering his home and hurling vulgarities at him, she yelled: "You cut my tree, my tree is a living thing. I hope your kids die."

The row escalated, with Shi grabbing the crane's key and driving off.

Yesterday, she pleaded guilty to two charges of wrongful confinement and a rash act endangering the personal safety of others, and another drink-driving charge from a separate incident.

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Three other charges of a similar nature will be taken into consideration during sentencing.

Mr Nasrat, 58, had hired a contractor to prune the tree on Feb 17, 2015.

One of the workers, Indian national Ankathi Thirupathi, 35, was lifted up in the crane bucket to prune the tree.

Half an hour later, Shi arrived at the scene in a car and sounded her horn.

After arguing with Mr Nasrat, she took the vehicle's key and ignored the workers' pleas to return it before driving off, causing Mr Ankathi to be trapped in the bucket.

As she tried to drive away, Mr Nasrat attempted to block her car but moved out of the way when she drove forward.

Mr Nasrat confronted Shi at her home to get back the key but she continued to argue with him.

After about an hour, Singapore Civil Defence Force officers rescued Mr Ankathi.

In a separate incident, on Jan 31 last year, Shi was arrested at the Grand Hyatt hotel after she tried to drive her car home while drunk.

Earlier this year, Shi was sentenced to four weeks' jail and disqualified from driving for six months, for assaulting a fellow motorist in 2014.

She has appealed against the conviction and sentence.

Last month, Shi admitted to stopping her car in the middle of Orchard Road and causing a jam, after a private bus driver complained she had been driving at a "very slow speed".

Shi will be back in court on Aug 29.