Food deliveryman hit 3-year-old boy while riding e-scooter in crowded Nex mall

Shaffiq Alkhatib
The Straits Times
July 26, 2019

A food delivery worker riding an e-scooter along a crowded corridor in Nex shopping mall knocked into a toddler, who hit his head on the floor when he fell.

Neo Jia Ming, 20, who used to work for Deliveroo, was sentenced yesterday to a year's probation.

As part of the conditions, he has to perform 80 hours of community service and remain indoors from 10pm to 6am every day.

His paternal uncle and mother were also bonded for $5,000 to ensure his good behaviour.

Neo pleaded guilty on June 27 to causing hurt to the three-year-old boy by riding the e-scooter in a rash manner at the Serangoon Central mall.

The toddler, who cannot be named due to his age, was walking out of a shop towards his mother around 7pm on March 18 when Neo spotted him but could not stop in time.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Nicholas Lai told District Judge May Mesenas that the e-scooter hit the boy's forehead, causing him to fall backwards and hit his head against the floor.

The DPP added that the area near the shop on the fourth storey was crowded at the time of the incident, with "many people walking to and fro".

Neo got off his e-scooter and gave the boy's mother his particulars before leaving to deliver food.

The 29-year-old mother alerted a security officer, who advised her to lodge a police report.

Her son was taken to the National University Hospital where he was found to have a bruised forehead and mild tenderness at the back of his head.

The toddler was discharged later that day.

Offenders convicted of causing hurt to others by performing a rash act can be jailed for up to a year and fined up to $5,000.