SINGAPORE — A 52-year-old unemployed man pleaded guilty on Monday (Sept 28) to harassing his neighbour while armed with a parang, as well as for stalking his wife whom he was in the midst of divorcing.

He once told her that if she did not hand over her wedding ring and gold bracelet, he would send a video and photograph to her employer of her allegedly performing a sexual act.

He cannot be named due to a court order to protect her identity.

The court called for a report to assess if he is suitable for a mandatory treatment order, as a psychiatrist from the Institute of Mental Health had diagnosed him with substance-induced psychosis. However, he was not of unsound mind.

A mandatory treatment order is offered to those suffering from mental health conditions that contributed to an offence. Those found suitable must attend sessions with a court-appointed psychiatrist.

On Monday, the man admitted to four charges of unlawful stalking, criminal intimidation, possessing an offensive weapon and committing mischief. 

Another four similar charges will be considered for sentencing on Oct 27.

MARRIED TWICE

The court heard that he and his wife first divorced in 1991 before reconnecting in 2017. 

They got married and lived together until February last year, when she obtained a personal protection order against him. They were undergoing divorce proceedings at that point.

On Feb 11 that year, he sent her a series of WhatsApp text messages threatening to send her employer the sexually explicit material.

He also told her: “You better return the ring and the bracelet to me tomorrow or the video and the photo will go viral even on YouTube.”

She filed a police report four days later.

Even while the police were investigating the case, he sent her emails, text messages and voice messages incessantly over the next few months.

Twice in a day, he sent her a link that contained sexually explicit photos of both of them. On another occasion, he sent her an email with the subject title, “I will drag you to hell with me”.

He also claimed in Facebook posts that she was unfaithful to him during their marriage.

She made 10 police reports against him in total.

He was charged in court and released on bail, but re-offended on Jan 4 this year.

When his neighbour returned home, he used a 28cm-long parang to strike against the other man’s metal gate, then shouted an expletive and asked him to come out.

The victim complied, but the man picked up a stone and threw it at the windscreen of the victim’s car.

Police officers arrived shortly afterwards and arrested the man.

Three weeks later, he returned to the neighbour’s home and shouted vulgarities that were directed towards the other man’s company. The firm's name was printed on the victim’s van parked outside the house.

The man then bent the van’s licence plate, which cost S$25 to replace. This was caught on closed-circuit television footage.

The psychiatrist who examined him said that he was experiencing psychotic symptoms at the time of such aggressive acts towards the neighbour, which would have impaired his judgement and impulse control.