SINGAPORE — A 41-year-old man was sentenced to five years, six months and 10 weeks' jail on Wednesday (June 28) after pleading guilty to a string of offences spanning several years, including the possession of illicit drugs, stalking his ex-girlfriend and causing hurt to her.

Mohammad Faizal Omar also admitted to driving while under a disqualification order, cheating by pretending to be someone else and using criminal force on a public servant, among other offences.

As a result of his driving-related offences, Faizal was disqualified from holding or obtaining all classes of driving licences for two years.

He was also fined S$1,000 for a charge under the Protection from Harassment Act.

A total of 15 other similar charges were taken into consideration during sentencing, including one relating to Faizal's failure to attend an earlier court hearing, thus breaching his bail conditions.

CAUSING HURT

The court heard that on the evening of May 17, 2018, Faizal had arrived at his ex-girlfriend's workplace to pick her up.

She initially did not want to get into the car but eventually did so after Faizal threatened to beat her if she refused.

When they arrived at her home, Faizal locked the car doors which prevented his ex-girlfriend from leaving.

After Faizal punched her when she tried to open the car door, the ex-girlfriend eventually managed to leave the car and seek help from a passerby who called the police, said Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Kathy Chu.

The police arrived shortly afterwards and interviewed Faizal, who gave a false name and NRIC number.

Faizal also denied hitting his ex-girlfriend and claimed that he had been scratched by her. He was told by the police to seek medical attention.

He did so a few days later at the emergency department of the National University Hospital, where he gave the same fake name and NRIC number that he had given to the police.

DPP Chu stated that Faizal had done so to avoid being caught by the police.

A few weeks later, on the afternoon of June 5, 2018, Faizal's ex-girlfriend was walking back from the canteen to her workplace with her colleague when Faizal approached her, wanting to talk.

The ex-girlfriend told him that she was going back to work and could not talk to him. She ignored him and kept walking.

Unhappy with this, Faizal held onto her neck and squeezed it with his right hand.

The ex-girlfriend's colleague eventually called the police. The call recorded screaming in the background. Court documents did not state if Faizal was arrested the same day.

THREATS AND HARASSMENT

A month later, the ex-girlfriend's colleague received a text message from Faizal, warning that he would "slap her" if she continued to advise the ex-girlfriend on her relationship with him.

Despite their relationship ending sometime in April 2018, Faizal continued to harass and stalk his ex-girlfriend by contacting her through WhatsApp and Instagram.

Aside from messages indicating that he would "beat her up", Faizal also sent his ex-girlfriend nude videos of her accompanied with messages saying that he would publish them on social media.

He used his friend's Facebook account to post a photo of his ex-girlfriend and her colleague with comments about his ex-girlfriend's relationships with other men.

Faizal had also asked a friend to place a camera belonging to the National Environment Agency near the lift landing at his ex-girlfriend's home with the intention to monitor her.

OTHER OFFENCES

On the morning of July 26, 2018, Faizal crashed into the rear of a lorry while driving along Upper Serangoon Road after failing to keep a proper lookout.

At the time, Faizal was under two disqualification orders imposed by the District Court.

When the traffic police arrived at the scene, they arrested Faizal as he had outstanding warrants of arrest against him.

They also seized drug-related items that were found, including tablets and a sachet of methamphetamine, also known as "ice".

Investigations later revealed that Faizal had used an altered driving licence with a fake name and NRIC number that permitted him to drive vehicles in classes 2B to 4, to rent a car from a man named Khairi.

When Khairi received letters from the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) in relation to the vehicle, he felt that something was wrong and gave Faizal's particulars to the authorities.

When he was arrested by LTA officers, Faizal got into a scuffle with one of the officers after attempting to resist arrest. He was eventually subdued and restrained with the help of two members of the public.

The LTA officer suffered multiple abrasions as a result of the scuffle.

Despite being investigated after his arrest for each of the offences, Faizal kept offending, such as cheating a vehicle rental company into allowing him to have possession of a van without payment from Dec 18, 2019, to Jan 8, 2020.

Faizal was arrested on May 24 last year after he failed to attend an earlier court and absconded, breaking the conditions of his bail. He has been on remand since then.

WHAT THE DEFENCE SAYS

Defence lawyer Teo Choo Kee, representing Faizal, urged District Judge Lim Wee Ming to consider imposing a lighter sentence of four years, arguing that this would be sufficient punishment for his overall criminality.

Mr Teo also added that Faizal is remorseful and has since made good use of his time in remand to rehabilitate himself.

He said that the prosecution's submission seeking more than five years' jail would be "crushing" for his client.