Vict Lim Siong Hock, 52, pleaded guilty to at least one count of false imprisonment, while one other count of sending an offensive message to a former colleague was considered during Monday’s sentencing.
The court heard Lim accepted a job as a driver and logistics assistant with an electronics company at Pantech Business Hub in late May 2022 and commenced work on July 1, 2022.
He worked from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 or 5:00 p.m. and had an hour for lunch.
Lim was released on August 30, 2022, before the tip of his probationary period.
After Lim was released, the court heard, he bought a padlock at a ironmongery shop.
He planned to shut the doorway – the one door to his former workplace – because he felt resentful of being fired.
On September 1, 2022, at roughly 2:20 p.m., Lim went to the office and padlocked the front door.
According to Lim, he assumed that his former colleagues were on their lunch break and “probably everyone” had left the office.
However, in point of fact, lunch breaks were staggered and there was at all times an worker taking care of the office premises at any given time, the prosecutor said.
About 10 minutes after Lim closed the door, the worker tried to go away the office and go to the bathroom but was unable to achieve this.
He realized that the door was locked from the skin and told his friends what happened. A complete of nine employees were locked within the office.
They asked one other colleague working elsewhere within the constructing to examine the front door, who confirmed that it was padlocked.
The business owner hired a locksmith for about A$80 ($60) to remove the padlock later that day.
The owner then filed a police report against Lim that evening.
Lim’s actions were captured on CCTV footage.
For false imprisonment, he might have been sentenced to up to 3 years in prison, a wonderful, or each.
