Man jailed 23 months after 9-month crime spree
In a nine-month crime spree starting last December, Mohamed Faridz Abdul Azeez committed five offences.
He punched a bus driver, exposed himself to a woman, possessed contraband cigarettes, committed snatch theft and even drove illegally.
In court yesterday, Mohamed Faridz, 33, pleaded guilty to five charges: causing hurt, committing an obscene act, possessing uncustomed goods, snatch theft and driving despite being disqualified.
He was sentenced to a total of 23 months and a week in jail, was fined $40,000 and was disqualified from driving for four years.
CAUSING HURT
On Dec 9 last year, Mohamed Faridz punched bus driver Zhang Lei, 35, multiple times causing him to suffer bruises on his face and a loose tooth, the court heard.
Mohamed Faridz had boarded the bus at about 9pm at a stop in Bugis with his girlfriend and her two daughters.
The girlfriend, Ms Nur Asyiqin, 28, was pushing her older daughter in a stroller while he carried the younger girl.
Court documents said that the driver closed the door before Mohamed Faridz had fully entered, and one side of the door hit the girl's left arm and head.
He reacted by punching the bus driver in the mouth and a commotion broke out.
Mohamed Faridz then pressed the emergency door button and alighted.
His girlfriend attempted to follow him, but the bus driver tried to stop her by holding onto the stroller.
When Mohamed Faridz saw this, he boarded the bus again and punched the driver three times on the head.
The bus driver sought treatment the next day and was given seven days' medical leave.
OBSCENE ACT
On Feb 6, Mohamed Faridz (above) exposed himself in front of a 50-year-old woman at a Simei void deck.
The woman, who cannot be named due to a gag order, was walking alone from Changi General Hospital towards a block in Simei Street 1 when she saw Mohamed Faridz standing behind a pillar at Block 109 with his trousers down and exposing himself.
She tried to take a picture of him, but he fled. She shouted for help and a passer-by managed to snap a shot of him from the back.
CONTRABAND
In April this year, Customs officers found him with a box of contraband cigarettes at the lift lobby of Block 135, Bedok North Street 2.
The excise duty leviable on the 3.37kg of cigarettes was $1,307.56.
This was not Mohamed Faridz's first brush with Customs officers. In May 2013, he was sentenced for having uncustomed cigarettes.
SNATCH THEFT
On Aug 29, he snatched a waist pouch containing $10,000 in cash, a gold chain valued at $300 and a mobile phone valued at $30 from a 62-year-old man.
He had tailed the victim from a coffee shop in Lorong 18 Geylang, having earlier seen the man hold a stack of cash. He split the money with co-accused Muhammad Qayyuum Sulong, 31, and spent his share of $2,000 on clubbing.
ILLEGAL DRIVE
Three days later, at 3.20pm, while on court bail, Mohamed Faridz was spotted driving a borrowed car despite being barred from driving for two years from July 2015.
He was arrested later that day by plainclothes police officers.
During sentencing, District Judge Low Wee Ping said that Mohamed Faridz's actions seemed to be getting "bolder and bolder".
He said: "This court must deter people like you from committing these kind of crimes."
This court must deter people like you from committing these kind of crimes.
– District Judge Low Wee Ping on Mohamed Faridz Abdul Azeez
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