Ferrari driver’s depression did not contribute to assault
A district court has accepted that an elderly Ferrari driver was suffering from depression when she punched a fellow motorist in Telok Ayer Street on Feb 25, 2014, but ruled that the condition was not a contributing factor to the offence.
District Judge Chay Yuen Fatt delivered his findings yesterday, following a hearing to determine Shi Ka Yee's mental condition.
On Aug 17 last year, he convicted the 72-year-old woman of assaulting BMW driver Raphael Chong Yen Ping, 39.
Mr Chong suffered a cut above his right eyebrow.
Shi's personal psychiatrist, Dr Pauline Sim Li Ping, testified in court on Wednesday that her patient was diagnosed with depression in 2009.
Dr Sim, who is a consultant psychiatrist at the Mount Elizabeth Medical Centre, said people with depression tend to react to provocation without thinking of the consequences. She said this could have been the case with Shi.
The psychiatrist said Shi felt disappointed and "taken advantage of" upon finding out that her husband was having an affair with a woman from China.
Dr Sim added that Shi often thought she was being taken advantage of because she is a woman.
"She was shocked that a BMW driver would be rude to her... that is why she reacted. It would be disastrous to incarcerate her... Treatment would be better," she said.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Zhuo Wenzhao yesterday said Dr Sim's findings should be given very little weight.
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