SINGAPORE — Two young men and a woman were talking about their various financial problems one night, when they decided that robbing a taxi driver might be the solution to their woes.

The trio were convicted in court today (Dec 22) for hurting an elderly taxi driver with a chopper, in an attempted robbery at a cemetery.

The main instigator, Goh Tong Chien, 22, was sentenced to 22 months’ jail and three strokes of the cane for slashing the taxi driver with a chopper, slicing his right index finger, lower lip and forehead.

Two other accomplices - Goh’s girlfriend Eng Wan Fong, 22, and his friend Tan Jing Zi, 23 - will be sentenced at a later date.

Court documents showed that on May 13, the trio met at 432 Tampines Street 41 late at night. While discussing their financial and family problems, Goh suggested that they find an old taxi driver to rob.

After flagging eight to nine cabs, they decided to take Mr Sazali Abdullah’s Trans-Cab taxi.

The trio told Mr Sazali, 58, to go to the Chinese cemetery at Old Choa Chu Kang Road. Along the way, Goh spoke to the other two in Mandarin and told them to run out of the taxi and act as look-outs, while he attacked the taxi driver with a chopper and robbed him.

The chopper, which Goh and Eng had brought along with them, was hidden inside a green bag.

Nearing their destination, Mr Sazali was instructed to drive to Chinese Cemetery Path 11, adjacent to Lim Chu Kang Road. After the vehicle stopped, both Eng and Tan dashed out, while Goh whipped out the chopper and slashed the taxi driver from behind.

Blood splattered all over the taxi, and Goh eventually got scared and fled. He ran towards his two accomplices, and flung the chopper into a nearby drain.

Mr Sazali drove out of the cemetery before calling the police. “Someone hit me. I need ambulance,” he told the cops, in a phone call made around 1.30am.

Appearing in the dock today, Goh admitted to voluntarily causing hurt with a deadly weapon. He also pleaded guilty to two separate charges of punching his aunt and stealing two cans of beer worth S$9.40 from a mart.

In the punching incident on Feb 24, Goh came home drunk and started shouting at his aunts, asking them where his handphone was. Seeing that he was becoming violent, one of his aunts called the police. That was when Goh yelled at her and punched her in the left eye.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Senthilkumaran Sabapathy said Goh had shown a high degree of premeditation in attacking the taxi driver. “He deliberately picked the victim - an old taxi driver - and brought him to a secluded cemetery,” he said.

“He (Mr Sazali) was not just old, but he was a taxi driver... a vulnerable class that requires the law’s protection... We cannot have them attacked,” said DPP Senthilkumaran.

Defence lawyer Rajan Supramaniam pleaded for leniency, citing Goh’s rough childhood, where he grew up in a temple and was asked to move out after hitting a priest’s wife.

Goh, who is unemployed, has also been diagnosed with alcohol and opoid dependence and anger management issues.

District Judge (DJ) Low Wee Ping, noting that Goh had previously been jailed a month for hurting a public servant, said: “He looks like one who’s going to be in the system for longer term.

“After your imprisonment, I don’t know what is your future. I hope social agencies will take care of you. If you’re not rehabilitated, you probably will spend more time in prison.”

DJ Low called for probation reports to be prepared for Eng and Tan, adding that the duo were less culpable than Goh.

Apart from having the common intention to hurt the taxi driver, Eng and Tan both face a second charge of stealing a headset and an SD card worth S$120 from an electronics store in Tampines on May 6.

Eng’s lawyer Zara Fung told the court that her client is a first-time offender, who is relatively young. Moreover, Eng also has an infant daughter, and is determined to turn over a new leaf to care for her, Ms Fung said.

Lawyer Victor Lee, who is defending Tan, portrayed his client as a gullible and obliging person, who was submissive to his friends’ wishes.

Eng and Tan will return to court on Jan 26.