Man jailed after damaging bridal cars while shooting at birds

Annoyed with the pigeons outside his Housing Board flat, a man used a catapult to shoot them but ended up damaging two bridal cars in the vicinity.

The police managed to narrow the search down to four units in Woodlands after the Health Sciences Authority performed a projectile analysis.

Samuel Tan Joo Soon was arrested after he admitted to using a wooden catapult found in his home to shoot at the birds.

Yesterday, Tan, 53, was sentenced to three weeks' jail after pleading guilty to one charge of a rash act endangering the personal safety of others.

Another charge of possessing a wooden catapult, an offensive instrument, was taken into consideration.

Tan bought the wooden catapult in 2008 to shoot stones at birds in trees around his home.

In 2016, he grew annoyed with the pigeons as they defecated on the window ledges of his unit or on his air-conditioner compressor.

He would chase the pigeons away by using water guns to spray water at them but they kept returning.

In 2017, Tan purchased two packets of 8mm metal ball bearings on an online shopping website.

To improve his aim, he practised shooting at trees.

As his aim improved, he targeted the ball bearings at pigeons when they flew onto his air-conditioner compressor.

They then congregated at the block across, but Tan did not let up as their presence irked him.

On July 1, 2017, at about 7am, a convoy of five vehicles arrived for a wedding gate-crash party and two of the cars parked near the block.

Tan woke up and started shooting pigeons. He had noticed them on a ledge of the block across.

The groomsmen and bridesmaids were playing gate-crashing games at the void deck of Block 762 Woodlands Avenue 6.

Despite being aware of the bridal party, Tan continued to rain down ball bearings at the pigeons.

Some of the bridesmaids heard a few "bang" sounds but were unable to determine the source of the noise.

When the two drivers returned, they discovered dents on their cars and holes on the rear windscreens.

One of them called the police. Repairs for one vehicle amounted to more than $2,400, but the cost of the damage to the other vehicle could not be determined as it was scrapped without repairs.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Chong Kee En asked for four weeks' jail, citing reasons including how Tan was shooting in a residential estate and was fully cognisant of the activities happening nearby.