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A WOMAN driver cut into his lane, so he honked at her. This led to hand-gesturing, more honking, tailgating and finally a confrontation that ended with a headbutt. The road rage incident landed Lai Yew Sing in court in April. He pleaded guilty to one count of voluntarily causing hurt and was fined $1,000. Lai, 40, a major in the Singapore Navy, had headbutted the woman driver's passenger on his face. The attack left Dr Jason Chia Kok Kiong, 34, an associate consultant with the Changi Sports Medicine Centre at Changi General Hospital, with a fractured nose. The court heard that Dr Chia was in a car driven by his colleague, Ms Sharon Seah, on 18 Mar last year, around 1.30pm. They were travelling along South Buona Vista Road heading to The Village Centre near Pasir Panjang when Ms Seah, an occupational therapist, filtered into the right lane. Lai, who was driving behind Ms Seah, sounded the horn at her. His heavily-pregnant wife was with him. GESTURED WITH HER HANDS Ms Seah gestured with her hand at Lai through her rear view mirror to indicate her displeasure. She applied her brakes intermittently on the winding road and this further enraged Lai, who tailgated her and honked again. On arriving at The Village Centre, Ms Seah drove into the basement carpark. Lai followed and parked his car first. Dr Chia alighted from Ms Seah's car before she parked. He walked towards Lai's car to look at and memorise its licence plate number, court documents revealed. Meanwhile, Lai headed toward Ms Seah's car and shouted at her while she remained seated inside. As Dr Chia was walking back to Ms Seah's car, both men crossed paths. Lai was still shouting at Ms Seah, scolding her for driving badly. As the two men stood close to each other, Lai suddenly headbutted Dr Chia on his face. His nose started bleeding profusely and he called the police. Lai did not leave the scene. Dr Chia received treatment for his fractured nose at the National University Hospital. Lai's lawyer, Mr Thangavelu, said in his mitigation that Lai had followed Ms Seah's car because he wanted an explanation from her. He said: 'The driver flashed her middle finger twice into her rear view mirror. 'She also stuck her hand outside the window showing the same gesture and later braked intermittently for no apparent reason.' He added that Lai had felt intimidated by Ms Seah's behaviour and was concerned for the safety of his wife, who was eight months' pregnant. Mr Thangavelu said Lai had regretted his impulsive behaviour and had apologised to Dr Chia and offered to compensate him for his injury. The court heard that after completing his national service in 1987, Lai signed on with the navy and had an excellent service record. He reached the rank of major in 2003. Mr Thangavelu said Lai would lose his entire retirement benefits of $283,000, which he accumulated over 20 years, if he was sent to prison. In her written judgment, District Judge Hamidah Ibrahim said she saw Lai's actions as a momentary loss of temper or control. 'I find that there was some provocation on the part of Ms Seah in the manner in which she drove her car that day,' she said. SWERVED SUDDENLY 'She swerved suddenly into his lane, forcing him to take evasive action by jamming his brakes and sounding the horn.' The judge added that Ms Seah's waving of her hands could have been perceived by Lai as the flashing of her middle finger. 'It was unfortunate that Lai had used his head to headbutt the nose of the victim,' she said. 'However, I find it in his favour that he did it only once and it was not premeditated and no weapon was used.' She also noted that the conviction was adequate punishment for Lai since it was fairly obvious that his career would now be ruined. While there is a need to protect the public from acts of violence, she did not think Lai deserved a jail sentence. Lai was fined the maximum of $1,000, which he paid. The prosecution appealed against the sentence. The appeal will be heard in the High Court on 17 Jul. For voluntarily causing hurt, Lai could also have been jailed for one year. This article was first published in The New Paper on 14 June 2008.