A woman from Singapore has been sentenced to eight weeks in jail after threatening to kill her tenants with a 33 cm knife. The incident, which occurred on October 20, 2021, was reported by the South China Morning Post. The woman, Li Kim, a Chinese national, pleaded guilty in March to one charge of criminal intimidation against the couple who were renting a room from her. Another similar charge was also considered during sentencing.
According to court documents, Li returned home drunk at 6:30 am, disturbing the couple, Soo Zu Liang and Teo Yuen Yee, who were sleeping in their room. They heard loud banging sounds and Li shouting from the living room. Liang and Yee overheard Li mentioning that she had a knife and would kill them when they left their room. Concerned for their safety, the couple locked their door and contacted the police.
Security camera footage revealed that Li retrieved a 33 cm knife from the kitchen and paced around the house, brandishing the knife and making threats such as “I will stab whoever comes out.” She aggressively knocked on the couple’s room door with the knife before being arrested. A subsequent investigation showed that Li had a blood alcohol level of 88mg/100ml.
Following Li’s guilty plea, District Judge Marvin Bay requested a report to assess if Li was eligible for a mandatory treatment order, a community sentencing option for offenders with mental conditions that contributed to their offense. However, a report from the Institute of Mental Health found no such contribution.
Li’s lawyer, Amarjit Singh, asked the court to consider a more lenient sentence, noting that the report did not establish a causal link between any diagnosed condition and the incident. Singh also mentioned that Li had experienced depressive episodes during that period, which should be taken into account. However, District Judge Bay stated that the incident was indisputable given the existence of CCTV footage.
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