A 27-year-old man was sentenced to seven months' jail on Friday, July 4, for one count of mischief by fire after he set fire to flat when his grandmother didn't open the main gate. A second charge was also taken into consideration.
Reportedly, Lenard Tan Yong Jia burned a piece of cardboard and stuck it in the apartment door as he was upset that his grandmother would not come when he called for assistance to open the gate.
His grandmother was able to extinguish the fire by dousing it with water after her neighbors warned her about it.
According to the court, Tan lived in an apartment with his grandmother and stepfather while he was a student.
When he returned home on April 18 of this year, he found that the metal gate was locked but the wooden door was open. He knocked on the door, unable to get inside, but no one answered.
He made roughly six phone calls to his grandmother, but she never answered.
Reports stated that she was afraid of her grandson because she thought he was a drug addict. Prior to this, the two had also had an undisclosed argument.
Tan was upset because he knew his grandmother was home.
Just outside the house, he lit a piece of cardboard with his lighter and positioned it between the wooden door and the metal gate, against a cardboard box that was already wedged in the door's opening.
After that, he sent his uncle a video of the fire and an audio recording that said, "you want to play with me, I burn and let you see" in Mandarin.
The fire was still burning when Tan left the scene.
Shortly after, the victim heard knocking and heard her neighbors yelling at her. She found the fire and doused it with water.
Tan's aunt reported to the police that her nephew "went crazy" and set her mother's house on fire.
The entrance's paint, skirting, floor tiles, and door were all harmed by the fire.
The estimated cost of the repairs is approximately S$7,000 (US$5,500), but this cannot be verified because Tan's stepfather has not yet made up his mind to proceed with the work.
On April 18, Tan was discovered in possession of the lighter he had used to start the fire as well as two penknives. Later, he was taken into custody and placed under remand.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Jotham Tay sought five to six months' jail for Tan, saying Tan knew that his 67-year-old grandma was home when he started the fire.
"He moreover did so with the door open and the cardboard box wedged in the door, allowing for the fire and smoke to spread into the unit. This would have endangered the victim's health or even life," Tay said, as quoted by CNA.
Tan could have been jailed up to seven years in prison and a fine for mischief by fire.
