SINGAPORE, July 18 — After his ex-girlfriend attempted to break up with him, Tham Quan Hui visited her workplace to confront her. There, he kicked her twice in her stomach and pushed her head, causing her to fall to the floor.

The 29-year-old pleaded guilty to a total of five charges which included sending intimate photos of the victim to her co-workers and boss, and breaching a personal protection order when he choked his father.

Twelve other charges were taken into consideration when the unemployed man was sentenced to 14 months and 10 weeks’ jail today.

The victim’s name cannot be published due to a gag order.

What happened

The court heard that on March 22 this year, Tham confronted his ex-girlfriend outside her workplace, demanding to speak with her.

During their conversation, Tham snatched the woman’s belongings, including her mobile phone, which she struggled to take back as it was how she contacted her family in Vietnam.

In a bid to get her mobile phone back, she threw warm coffee on Tham which only angered him.

He then kicked her at least twice in her stomach and pushed her head, causing her to fall to the ground before fleeing the scene with her mobile phone, said Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Huo Jiongrui.

Sometime that evening, the manager and the boss from the woman’s company contacted Tham to negotiate a return of the mobile phone.

An agreement was made to exchange the mobile phone for all the gifts that Tham had given his ex-girlfriend during the course of their relationship.

Despite making plans to meet up twice, Tham did not turn up for both meetings.

Between March 22 and 24, Tham accessed his ex-girlfriend’s WhatsApp and Telegram accounts by using her SIM card to reset both applications on his phone to log into her accounts.

As he was using her SIM card, Tham received the one-time PINs to authenticate his access into her accounts.

On March 23, Tham intentionally distributed five intimate photos and one 12-second nude recording of his ex-girlfriend to her company’s chat group which had 12 other members that included her manager, boss and business partners.

DPP Huo stated that the photos and recording were from when the two were still together but Tham had distributed them with the intent of teaching her a lesson and causing her humiliation.

Tham taunted the other members in the chat group with messages about the photos, including his ex-girlfriend’s manager whom he specifically harassed and threatened with a series of messages and calls.

To further humiliate his ex-girlfriend, Tham also changed her Telegram profile photo to multiple nude photographs of her, which would have been visible to all of her contacts.

Due to the threats, both Tham’s ex-girlfriend and her manager feared for their safety and decided to stay overnight on the second floor of their two-storey office.

However, that did not stop Tham from visiting the office where he attempted to barge into the second floor by hitting and kicking the door several times with his elbow and foot while the women held the door shut.

Tham’s actions resulted in a damage to the second floor door.

Tham then loitered outside the office hoping to see his ex-girlfriend but was later detained by security personnel from a neighbouring building when he tried to flee.

Tham was subsequently arrested by police on March 24.

Choking his father and stealing

Tham had also had been arrested two other times.

The first was in October 2022 when he breached his father’s personal protection order after getting annoyed with the latter for having used a plate that was too big for two slices of French toast.

Tham started a verbal dispute with his father which escalated into a heated argument where he grabbed the older man by the neck with his hands and choked him.

This caused Tham’s father to fall to the floor and also sustain a scratch on the neck.

Despite his father walking away, Tham followed the older man where he pushed him several times, spat on him and also challenged him to a fight, but his father did not retaliate.

He was then arrested in the evening and let out on police bail the same day.

That was not the first time Tham had breached protection orders. He had been sentenced to seven weeks’ jail and a S$2,000 fine in 2021 for verbally abusing his parents and choking his father.

Tham was arrested again in December 2022 for stealing IT accessories from Courts Nojima on Orchard Road while he was out on police bail.

For distributing intimate images or recordings, Tham could have been jailed up to five years fined, or caned, or with any combination of these punishments.

Those found guilty of breaching a protection order for a second time can be fined up to S$5,000 or jailed up to 12 months, or both.

Anyone found guilty of voluntarily causing hurt can be jailed up to three years or fined up to S$5,000, or both.

Those found guilty of committing mischief can be jailed up to two years or fined, or both.

Anyone found guilty of committing theft in any building can be jailed up to seven years and fined. — TODAY