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Tag: Sundram Peter Soosay

  • NUS Law Professor Who Assaulted Taxi Driver Sacked

    NUS Law Professor Who Assaulted Taxi Driver Sacked

    The National University of Singapore (NUS) law professor who was sentenced to four months in jail for attacking a cabby has reportedly been sacked.

    A NUS spokesman was quoted as saying that 43-year-old Sundram Peter Soosay had been fired on Monday. His academic profile had also been removed from the website of the law faculty, although his picture and name was still listed on the administration page as of Thursday night.

    On June 26, the day Soosay was sentenced, an NUS spokesman had told The Straits Times: “The university expects all members of its community to conduct themselves in accordance with the law. Dr Soosay has been convicted of a serious offence. The university has suspended him without pay since May 29 this year, and will now initiate disciplinary action.”

    Soosay, who was born in Malaysia and is a Singapore permanent resident, boarded Mr Sun Chun Hua’s cab in the early hours of Christmas Day in 2013 while intoxicated, and vomited soon after. He then alighted near King Albert Park, in Clementi Road, and walked away without paying the fare.

    After the cabby chased him and threatened to call the police, Soosay handed him a $50 note. Instead of waiting for his change, he struck Mr Sun from behind, straddling him and punching his face repeatedly.

    Mr Sun needed multiple stitches on his face and left arm, where he suffered a deep wound that exposed the bone, and had to be hospitalised. His injuries left him unable to work for 17 days, and it took him more than a month to regain the use of his left arm and resume driving.

    Soosay, who initially claimed that Mr Sun was the first to attack had told the court through his lawyer that he would be appealing his conviction and sentence.

     

    Source: www.straitstimes.com

  • Law Professor Withdraws Offer To Compensate Cabby Victim

    Law Professor Withdraws Offer To Compensate Cabby Victim

    The assistant law professor had initially offered to pay compensation to a cabby for assaulting him.

    But he withdrew the offer yesterday after he was berated by a judge.

    National University of Singapore law professor Sundram Peter Soosay, 43, was eventually sentenced yesterday to four months’ jail and ordered to pay $1,500 compensation to the cabby.

    Soosay had been found guilty last month of assaulting Mr Sun Chun Hua, 70, in the wee hours of Christmas Day in 2013.

    Earlier during yesterday’s hearing, Soosay had indicated he was willing to offer Mr Sun compensation.

    But when District Judge Victor Yeo chided him and his lawyer for not settling the issue earlier so Mr Sun could consent to the compensation, Soosay withdrew his offer.

    During sentencing, Judge Yeo said that violence against transport workers cannot be tolerated because while they provide an essential service to the public, they deserve to work in a safe and secure environment.

    He highlighted that Soosay had attacked Mr Sun at about 5am, when there was little foot traffic and the taxi driver would be at his most vulnerable.

    “I did not sense any remorse (in you), and you have a lackadaisical attitude towards compensation,” the judge said.

    The court had earlier heard that an intoxicated Soosay boarded Mr Sun’s taxi after a party.

    He vomited in Mr Sun’s taxi and got off the cab near King Albert Park in Clementi Road, where he walked away without paying.

    When the cabby chased him, Soosay handed him $50.

    But after the cabby turned his back and headed towards his taxi to retrieve change, Soosay attacked Mr Sun from behind.

    VIOLENT

    He jumped on the older man’s back, knocked him to the ground and hit him several times in the face and head.

    Soosay stopped only when a passer-by went to the cabby’s assistance.

    Calling Mr Sun a victim of gratuitous violence, Judge Yeo noted that the cabby could not work for 17 days.

    Referring to the cabby’s testimony, Judge Yeo said the cabby had never seen anything like that in his 20 years as a driver, and that he has stopped picking up drunk passengers.

    Soosay offered no mitigation before sentencing. He will be appealing his sentence and has been released on $20,000 bail.

    The $1,500 compensation will still have to be paid to Mr Sun by July 15.

     

    Source: www.tnp.sg

  • NUS Law Assistant Professor Convicted Of Assaulting 70 Year Old Taxi Driver

    NUS Law Assistant Professor Convicted Of Assaulting 70 Year Old Taxi Driver

    An assistant law professor with the National University of Singapore (NUS) assaulted a cabby over the change for a $20 fare, leaving him bloodied and in need of multiple stitches, a court heard yesterday.

    Sundram Peter Soosay, 43, had vomited in Mr Sun Chuan Hua’s vehicle in the wee hours of Christmas Day in 2013.

    He got out near King Albert Park in Bukit Timah and started to walk away without paying, but handed over a $50 note after the 70-year-old cabby chased him.

    It is alleged that Soosay then attacked Mr Sun from behind as he returned to the vehicle to retrieve the change, knocking him to the ground and punching him several times in the face and body, an incident that was seen by an eyewitness.

    In a trial that began yesterday, Mr Sun told the court he could smell alcohol on the breath of Soosay, who had boarded the cab along Serangoon North Avenue 1 to go to Clementi Road.

    To get the passenger to pay, Mr Sun said he asked him several times and touched him “lightly” on the arm. Soosay paid when Mr Sun threatened to make a police report.

    As he was walking back to his cab, someone hit him in the head, causing him to fall face down, said Mr Sun.

    He tried to get up but Soosay forced him back on the ground, sat astride him, and continued punching him in the face, the cabby claimed.

    Mr Sun, who needed 17 days of medical leave, told the court in Mandarin that he had got his taxi licence in 1983 and this had never happened to him before.

    The eyewitness claimed he saw the two men scuffle before the alleged assault.

    In his cross-examination of the witness, defence counsel Amarjit Singh said his client had walked away after the scuffle and did not attack the cabby. He suggested that the cabby had provoked Soosay by pushing him repeatedly in the back and throwing a punch of his own.

    Mr Sun will stay on the stand when hearing resumes on Feb 5.

    If convicted, Soosay, a permanent resident here, could be jailed for up to two years and fined up to $5,000.

    An NUS spokesman said Soosay joined the university in 2008. “NUS will await the conclusion of legal proceedings before determining what action, if any, should be taken.”

     

    Source: www.straitstimes.com