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Cleaner Jailed After Throwing Out Glass Bottles from 36th Floor Due to ‘Stress’

2022-06-17 , 6:03 pm

If you live in Singapore, there’s one thing you’ll definitely be familiar with: feeling stressed.

And while most of us are no stranger to feeling stressed throughout our daily lives, it probably goes without saying that most of us cope through healthy(ish) coping mechanisms, like eating (OK, not too healthy) or playing our favourite sport.

But this condominium cleaner decided to take a different approach to deal with his stress, and he definitely paid the price for his actions.

Condominium Cleaner Jailed for Killer Litter

Yesterday (16 June), Jimmy Tan Kah Hian pleaded guilty to two charges of endangering human life by a rash act.

Another two similar charges were taken into consideration during sentencing as well.

The 43-year-old condominium cleaner was sentenced to 12 weeks’ imprisonment for his acts of throwing glass and plastic bottles from the 36th floor of a condominium building.

Multiple Killer Litter Acts at Condo Reported to Police from 2021 to 2022

According to court proceedings, Tan was first hired as a cleaner at Icon condo in the Chinatown area back in 2020 and was tasked to clean several levels of both of Icon’s towers.

However, he soon started to do the opposite of what his job asked of him: littering.

And not just any littering, but killer litter.

The police also confirmed that multiple reports regarding killer litter occurring at the condominium were lodged in 2021 and this year.

Thankfully, even though some of the bottles he threw nearly hit people who were at lower levels of the condominium towers, there were ultimately no injuries caused as a result of his actions.

Threw Plastic Bottles off 36th Storey

On 10 February this year, Tan saw a carton of 500ml Evian water bottles that were placed near the lift lobby of the 36th floor at Tower 1.

At that time, the bottles were filled with water.

He then took 17 bottles of water out from the carton and threw them out of a window near the lift lobby.

After the bottles were thrown, five of them landed on a railing and ledge on the 32nd floor. There were also bottles that ended up in open areas on the 7th and 31st floors.

All the bottles broke due to the impact, with a management office staff member and another cleaner nearly getting hit by the bottles.

After the incident, another staff member contacted the police.

However, despite the fact that the security team at the condominium knew about the incident, there were no CCTVs in the area that could be used to figure out who the perpetrator was.

Threw Glass Bottles out of Same Window 3 Months Later

Yup, his killer litter acts didn’t just stop there.

Around three months later on 6 May, there were three empty wine bottles and an empty bottle of olive oil placed near the same lift lobby on the 36th floor of Tower 1.

All of the bottles were made of glass.

Upon seeing the bottles, Tan decided to throw all of them out of a nearby window as well.

While he did not cause any injuries, one of the bottles landed right in front of a resident on the 7th floor, prompting him to quickly step away from the area like any other person would.

There were also bottles that landed on the 31st floor near a fitness corner, which was being used by several residents at that point in time.

Threw Bottles Off Building Due to “Stress”

After his multiple acts of killer litter, Tan was finally arrested on 10 May this year after the police carried out large-scale inquiries at the condominium.

Upon further questioning, he confessed that he had been throwing bottles out of the condominium’s higher levels since January last year.

He also said that he chose to do so out of stress caused by his work and family issues.

For each offence of endangering human life by a rash act, Tan could have been sentenced to a maximum of six months in jail, been fined up to $2,500, or both.

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Similar Incidents

And Tan isn’t the only person who has been charged for killer litter incidents in Singapore as of late.

On 8 April, Australian Andrew Gosling was sentenced to five years and six months in jail after throwing a glass wine bottle from a lift landing back in 2019.

He threw the bottle from the lift landing on the seventh floor of Spottiswoode 18 condominium located in Outram, resulting in the death of a 73-year-old grandfather.

Gosling, who was intoxicated at that point in time, threw the bottle after harbouring bitter thoughts about the Muslim community.

The bottle hit the 73-year-old on the head and caused a skull fracture, which ultimately led to his passing.

The wife of the deceased victim also sustained extensive bruising and other injuries due to the incident.