Man admits throwing rocks, glass bottles at neighbour's car in year-long landed home parking dispute
Seah Chin Leong later agreed to pay his neighbour a sum of money in a settlement of a civil suit and moved out.
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SINGAPORE: A 43-year-old man on Monday (Feb 9) admitted to throwing rocks, glass bottles and other objects at his neighbour's car in a long-standing parking dispute at a landed estate in Serangoon.
When the man confronted his neighbour for parking his vehicle outside his house, a scuffle broke out.
The neighbour later commenced civil actions against him that resulted in a settlement and the man voluntarily sold his house and moved out to avoid further conflict.
Seah Chin Leong, a 43-year-old Singaporean, pleaded guilty on Monday to four charges which include mischief, affray and using abusive words. Several other similar charges will be considered in sentencing.
THE CASE
The court heard that Seah and his family moved into a landed home around July 2022. The exact location was redacted from court papers, but it is in the Serangoon area.
Since 2024, Seah had a dispute with the neighbour next door stemming from parking issues.
At about 3am on Aug 1, 2024, Seah confronted his neighbour about the latter parking his car outside Seah's house.
He punched the man in his face, and the man retaliated. Seah also kicked in the other man's direction, but his wife held him back.
Both men fell to the ground and the neighbour punched Seah when he was on the ground.
Seah later went to hospital with superficial abrasions. His neighbour also went to hospital but the examination of his head and face was "unremarkable" according to a medical report. He was discharged with "head injury advice".
Past 1am on Nov 5, 2024, a 37-year-old man surnamed Neo called the police, reporting that he had caught his neighbour throwing glass bottles from the second floor towards one of his father's cars.
Seah had thrown two glass bottles from the house towards his neighbour's car, which was parked along the road outside Seah's house. One of the bottles hit the rear of the car, causing damage that cost about S$894 to repair.
Past 2am on Dec 25, 2024, Mr Neo again reported to the police that Seah had kicked his car and was attempting to enter Mr Neo's house.
Seah was seen throwing rocks at the man's family car. Mr Neo spoke to Seah, who used a Hokkien vulgarity at him. This was captured on closed circuit television footage.
THE JOSS PAPER INCIDENT
At about 3.30am on Feb 22, 2025, Seah was burning joss paper in the incense bin on the public road outside his house. He was close to his neighbour's family car.
One of the family members from the neighbour's house used a garden spray from within their house compound to douse the burning paper in the bin, as he was concerned that the fire was getting bigger and could damage the family car.
A verbal dispute broke out and Seah hit his neighbour's gate with a metal stick, causing visible damage. The cost of replacing the gate is estimated to be about S$1,000 to S$2,000, the court heard.
Seah was arrested in May 2025 and released on bail the same day.
His neighbour, Mr Neo, commenced civil actions against Seah. In November 2025, parties agreed to a settlement, with Seah paying S$3,393.80 for the damage caused.
On top of this, Seah signed an option for sale in October 2024 for the house, with the sale completed in October 2025.
He moved out voluntarily to avoid further disputes and conflicts with his neighbours.
SENTENCING ARGUMENTS
Deputy Public Prosecutor Kevin Yong sought two weeks' jail and a total fine of S$4,500, saying there needs to be an element of general deterrence in this case.
While the prosecution accepted that there was "probably a variety of issues" between the neighbours that resulted in this level of acrimony, Mr Yong said it would not be productive to go into a granular assessment of who started which incident.
"The point I want to make is - in a dense city state as Singapore, where Singaporeans live cheek by jowl with each other, we cannot avoid it that we live so close to each other. From time to time, neighbours might be unhappy with each other, but they cannot resolve disputes or unhappiness by force whether to the other person's body or property," he said.
Mr Yong said the offences - including the ones in the charges taken into consideration - took place over more than a year from August 2024 and it was not a one-off incident.
"The victims had to endure the harassment for more than a year," said Mr Yong.
Although Seah secured a buyer for his house in October 2024, he only moved out in October 2025 because of his son's Primary School Leaving Examinations and continued to offend up to August 2025, said Mr Yong.
He said the mischief charges, where Seah threw objects at the victim's car or kicked the car on nine occasions, involved "antisocial and belligerent behaviour".
He said that while Seah has made restitution for the damage he caused, a jail term was appropriate because of public interest.
Seah was defended by Senior Counsel Chelva Retnam Rajah and Ms Megan Chia from Tan Rajah & Cheah.
Mr Chelva said a jail term was not called for and a total fine of S$8,500 to S$10,500 would be appropriate.
For the incident involving the incense bin, Mr Chelva said there was an element of provocation.
He said his client was burning joss paper in a bin on the public road outside his house, and the neighbour doused the fire with a gardening spray.
"It was a very sensitive matter," said Mr Chelva. "We're not saying that it excuses his behaviour, but what we're saying is that it was a very sensitive matter and that's what resulted in his doing what he did on that occasion."
Sentencing was adjourned to Feb 24.
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