Man who fired slingshot at pigeons in Jurong West and made a hole in neighbour's window after shot ricocheted fined $1,500
The prosecutor said the fine was required to ensure Singaporeans don’t just assume everything that they buy online is legal.
SINGAPORE — A Singaporean man's attempt to shoot some pigeons with his slingshot did not go as planned when he instead damaged the kitchen window of a nearby flat. Yu Xueyao, 37, pleaded guilty to one count of a rash act endangering personal safety on Monday (25 March).
For his offence, Yu was fined $1,500 by the Singapore court. Two other charges of possessing an offensive weapon and cruelly terrifying birds were taken into consideration, local media CNA reported.
Yu first purchased his slingshots - as well as clay and steel ammunition - online from Chinese web marketplaces in November 2022.
After he received the items, he would practice taking shots at a multi-storey car park near where he lived. CNA reported that he usually ensured there were no vehicles around when he fired his shots.
On 11 February 2023, at around 12.40pm, he decided to shoot some pigeons that were at Block 645 Jurong West Street 61.
The pigeons flew away after he shot at them, but the pellet ricocheted, hitting the kitchen window of a second-floor flat instead, according to CNA.
When the owner of the flat returned from lunch, he discovered a hole in his window and lodged a police report. Yu was arrested and his two slingshots were confiscated.
Victim spent $1,030 to replace window
The prosecutor, in asking for a fine between $1,500 and $2,500, said that a message had to be sent to buyers that the duty is on them to ensure that what they buy online and what they do with it is legal in Singapore, rather than just assume that it is.
He did note that the damage wasn’t serious, and the cost of $1,030 was high because the victim had replaced the whole window. Yu also paid the victim the amount in full.
Defence lawyer Kalaithasan Karuppaya said his client “accepts that what he did is wrong in the laws of Singapore” and was cooperative throughout the investigations.
He also said that Yu did “not set out to deliberately cause property damage” and would “not do such an offence again”.
For the offence of committing a rash act that endangered the personal safety of others, Yu could have been jailed for up to six months, fined up to $2,500, or both.
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