Sg: Taxi hijacker sentenced to jail

Yuan Zhenghua , a 31-year old Chinese national, hijacked a taxi last year and knocked down a cleaning supervisor at Changi Airport after failing to stop the vehicle in time. He arrived at the airport on 17th March 2012, 15 hours early for a flight home.The taxi he hijacked hit Mr Chandra Mogan Panjanathan, as he operated a floor-scrubbing machine. Mr Chandra, a 34-year old Malaysian with four children was about to end his shift when the fatal collision occurred. One of the three lawyers that represented Yuan, Mr Anand Nalachandran, made it clear to the Judges that Yuan was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia at the time and was delusional. He also made sure that the judges knew Yuan had a clean criminal record and felt remorse for causing the death of an innocent party. While dishing out the sentence, District Judge Chay Yuen Fatt ensured he took into account the sentencing principle of retribution, plus that of general deterrence.