Repeat offender harassed neighbours after earlier conviction for similar offences
A teenager, who had been given community-based sentences in 2020 after committing acts of mischief against her then-neighbour, returned to her old ways and targeted another household last year.
Jasmine Lau Jie Min was only 18 years old when she given a day-reporting order (DRO) two years ago after tormenting her earlier victim by acts such filling the keyhole of his main gate with superglue. The man has since moved out.
Instead of spending time behind bars, offenders given such an order must report to a day reporting centre for monitoring and counselling. DROs are administered by the Singapore Prison Service.
Lau was also given a community service order in 2020, which entails supervised community service for a given period. She was then ordered to perform 80 hours of community service.
But she did not learn her lesson and started harassing another household last year.
On Wednesday (July 20), Lau, now 21, was ordered to undergo reformative training for at least six months after she pleaded guilty to six charges for offences including harassment, mischief and theft.
This means she will be detained in a centre and made to follow a strict regimen that can include foot drills as well as counselling.
For her latest string of offences, the court heard that a man was playing games on his mobile phone outside his ground floor Circuit Road flat at around 4pm on Sept 18 last year when he noticed that eggs had been thrown near him.
He looked up and saw Lau, his next door neighbour, looking out from the rear entrance of her home.
The man used his phone to record a video about 10 minutes later and caught her tossing an egg in his direction.
He stopped recording when he saw more eggs thrown towards him.
Lau continued with her antics the following month and threw various items, including what appeared to be eggs, at the man's home.
Her actions were captured by a camera that was part of the Crime Control Surveillance System (CCSS).
Deputy Public Prosecutor Regina Lim said that on March 8 this year, Lau splashed items including oil and black sauce at her neighbour's flat.
The police were alerted after both incidents, the court heard.
A second man from her neighbour's household was at home the next day when Lau abused him with vulgar language.
After that, she retrieved a metal spanner from her unit and swung it at the windows of her neighbour's home, causing them to shatter.
A glass fragment cut the second victim's left foot and the police were again alerted.
Lau managed to shatter more windows before officers arrived at the scene, and the cost to replace them was about $1,500.
On May 17, she used a hammer to hit the CCSS installed outside her home and it became detached from the wall. Lau later flung the device to the ground before she took it home.
Court documents did not disclose the reasons behind her offences.
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