Singapore man fined for locking up co-workers in office after getting fired

A man in Singapore dealt with getting laid off at his job by confining his former colleagues inside the office for about an hour. According to Channel News Asia, 52-year-old Lim Siong Hock was fined a hefty $4,000 on Monday after he pleaded guilty to one count of wrongful confinement. 

It all began when Hock accepted the job role of a driver and logistics assistant in May 2022 at an electronics firm located at Pantech Business Hub. He began working there two months later on the shift timings of 8 am to 5 pm, with an hour dedicated to having lunch. 

How did Hock get his revenge? 

On August 30, 2022, he was sacked before the completion of his probation period. The 52-year-old dealt with the blow pretty hard, and decided to buy a padlock from a hardware store. He then headed to his former workplace on September 1, 2022, and locked the main door. 

While Hock confined nine of his ex-coworkers in the act, he told the court that he had assumed  "probably all of them" were on lunch breaks and the office was vacant. Within 10 minutes of the door being locked, an employee stuck inside scrambled to break through to head to the restroom, but failed to. 

After realising that the door had been locked, he informed the rest of the employees. The group asked another colleague who worked elsewhere in the building to check the front door and make sure it was locked, to which the individual confirmed. Soon after, the company's owner hired a locksmith to break the padlock for about $80. 

The owner later called the police and registered a complaint against Hock, whose actions were captured on closed-circuit television footage. The man also landed in trouble for sending a hostile text message to an ex-colleague. Hock could now face a prison sentence of up to three years along with the fine.