Chan Fan Kheow, 61-years-old, pleaded guilty on 5 April to one count of acting rashly and endangering the safety of others.
He was practicing shooting metal ball bearings from a slingshot at plastic bottles, at a multi-storey carpark in Hougang – he missed his targets and broke the glass windows of flats nearby.
One more count of possessing an offensive weapon will be considered during his sentencing on 13 April.
What happened?
Chan saw listings of slingshots online and bought 7 of them, along with a few packets of metal ball bearings/pellets from November 2019 to January 2020, from Taobao.
He began playing with it, aiming and shooting at target boards that he made himself in his home, but then proceeded to take his target practice to a carpark rooftop located at Block 933 Hougang Avenue 9.
He placed a few plastic bottles on the floor and ledge of the roof, aiming and shooting at them in the direction towards Block 923.
On Christmas day 2019, he had missed his target while shooting and a metal ball bearing then hit the glass window of a nearby unit at Block 923, it hit the window with such impact then the glass cracked with a small puncture hole in it.
The resident of that unit found a glass shard in the living room as well as a hole in his living room window, before making a police report.
On 12 January 2020, Chan once again missed his target and the metal ball bearing then hit a bedroom window of another unit in the same block.
The window ended up having a hole in it, about the size of a 5 cent coin, and the resident of that unit then lodged a police report as well.
The total damage done to both residents’ windows cost about $310, and Chan has since made full restitution.
Nine metal ball bearings were found in the vicinity of Block 923 by the police on 13 January, and CCTV footage from the area showed Chan fishing a slingshot out of his pocket while he was waiting for a life.
He was then arrested on 16 January 2020.