A Singaporean man was sentenced today to a year of reformative training, following an incident last year in which he physically assaulted and attempted to rob a woman.
Rishi Christopher, aged 20, punched, kicked, and even choked his victim, a 53-year-old unnamed woman whom he tried to rob at an HDB flat in Punggol on October 18 of last year. For his crime, he will be sent to a center where he will have to follow a regimented lifestyle, which includes attending mandatory counseling, The Straits Times reported.
Christopher pleaded guilty to one count each of robbery with hurt, theft in dwelling, criminal breach of trust, and consuming and possessing a drug earlier this month, reported Yahoo Singapore. He has been involved in a number of offenses and was even sentenced to probation for theft in 2014, only to commit the same crime again several times in 2017.
He was actually out on bail when he committed the Punggol crime, after having been arrested in September 2018 for marijuana possession and consumption.
Prior to his Punggol robbery attempt, Christopher went around to several carparks on October 18 because he allegedly planned to steal a vehicle. He failed to steal a car, but went to Waterway Point mall, where he stole $120 worth of clothing from a store.
Three hours after shoplifting from the mall, Christopher went to the void deck where he spotted the victim, who was holding a handbag. After checking his surroundings, he followed her inside the elevator, reported The New Paper. When the doors opened to the victim’s floor, Christopher followed her, hit her in the face repeatedly and choked her. During the assault, he also tried to pull her handbag away from her.
The woman refused to let her purse go, and tried to fight back by grabbing and squeezing Christopher’s groin. Christopher gave up trying to snatch the woman’s handbag but stole her keys before fleeing the crime scene.
The victim was brought to Sengkang General Hospital for treatment. Doctors reported her as having multiple facial fractures and the need for her to undergo surgery. The incident also left her so shaken that she had to undergo psychotherapy sessions to recover.
Four hours after the robbery, Rishi was arrested by police in Yishun.
