Drunk driver jailed for slashing student he thought had hit his van
He was so drunk, he slashed the wrong person
Someone hit the side of his van in a carpark, so the delivery driver stopped the vehicle and got out with a knife.
Kugan Kesavan, 27, who was intoxicated, then slashed a 17-year-old student twice, even though the teen was not the one who had hit his van.
Yesterday, Kugan was sentenced to nine months' jail for voluntarily causing hurt to student Jonathan Soo Wen Jie with a knife.
He was also fined $2,000 and disqualified from driving for 12 months for drink driving. He had no less than 134mg of ethanol per 100ml of blood.The legal limit is 80mg.
The court heard that Jonathan and his friends had left St James Power Station at 6am on Jan 1 this year.
They were crossing the carpark driveway when they saw a white van being driven recklessly.
When one of Jonathan's friends hit the side of the van, Kugan stopped the vehicle and got out with a knife.
He shouted in Tamil before raising his hand to slash Jonathan on the left forearm and then on the elbow.
The student was standing closest to the driver's door.
BLADE
Kugan then pointed the knife, which had a 30cm blade, at the group before getting back into the van.
Several policemen who were on foot patrol in the area heard people shouting, "He has a knife!"
They ran over, drew their weapons and ordered Kugan to step out of the van. They managed to subdue and arresthim without having to use their weapons.
Jonathan was taken to hospital for his injuries and was discharged on Jan 4.
Investigations revealed that the level of alcohol in Kugan's blood was more than 1.5 times the legal limit.
His lawyer, Mr Amarick Gill, said that Kugan could not pay the drink-driving fine and would have to serve the one-week jail term in default.
He said his client was remorseful and thankful that Jonathan's injuries were not more serious.
Mr Gill added that Kugan's wife would have to care for their eight-year-old son and six-month-old twin girls while he served his sentence.
"His wife has severely chastised him," he said.
Correction note: An earlier version of the story stated that Kugan Kesavan was fined $1,000. This is not correct. He was fined $2,000.
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