SOURCE: The New Paper

FOR almost a year, he lived in constant fear of being put behind bars.

John (not his real name) had been charged with molesting a 13-year-old girl.

What’s worse was that he had no recollection of the crime he was accused of and gave conflicting versions to the authorities.

But last Friday, the 35-year-old finally breathed a sigh of relief when he was acquitted in court.

Medical reports showed he was of “unsound mind” at the time of the incident.

John was found to have been suffering an epileptic seizure (commonly known as a fit), which caused him to have no recollection of the incident.

He told The New Paper over the phone in a mix of English and Malay: “I am thankful this is over, but I still lost my job because of this incident.

He requested that his real name not be used because he was worried it may affect his future job prospects.

The incident happened on 17 Nov last year, John’s first day as a school bus driver.

He did not drive but sat behind a senior driver in the bus to familiarise himself with the route.

According to John’s psychiatric report, the bus was making its third trip that day when John suffered a fit.

The bus driver and a female bus attendant, who were not aware that John was having a fit, saw him touch a schoolgirl and shouted at him.

Looked blur

The attendant said John looked “blur” for about 10 minutes.

He was “not alert” and “looked drunk”.

She saw him touch the girl’s hand and shoulder and said he did not look like he was having a fit.

According to court documents, the girl had accused John of fiddling with her bra strap and caressing her shoulder and lower back.

In the psychiatric report, John’s mother told the doctor at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) that when he suffers from a fit, he would “not be conscious, will turn to anyone, will touch anyone, may fall on the floor and will not remember what happened”.

His hand would also move about and he would not be able to control his bladder.

He may be “semi-responsive and confused”.

According to the report, John had a “high fever associated with seizures” when he was 8 months old and was hospitalised for a week.

When he was 4, his fits recurred, and continued occasionally till he turned 7.

“Then it vanished. I thought I was okay,” John said.

But years later, the fits came back when he was serving his National Service. He was admitted to intensive care and treated for heat exhaustion.

He was diagnosed with temporal lobe epilepsy. (See report on page 4.) Since then, he would suffer a fit once every few weeks.

John’s mother said her son has no recollection of what happens during his fits.

John told The New Paper: “I had never even seen the girl before. I don’t even remember what she looks like.”

He gave conflicting accounts of the incident to the police and medical officers.

And when he spoke to The New Paper after he was acquitted, it was yet another version.

He said: “I was driving at that time though I had a headache. It got very bad so I pulled the handbrake and stopped at the side of the expressway. Then I collapsed to the floor because I had a fit.”

His lawyer, Mr Rajan Supramaniam, requested that a psychiatrist and neurologist examine John because of his medical condition and conflicting accounts.

John, who is on daily medication for his epilepsy, suffered two more fits – each lasting two minutes – during his remand at IMH.

During the first fit, he fell to the floor.

The second time, he lost control of his bladder.

After the incident, John was sacked. He now helps out at his mother’s food stall.

He said he jumped at the bus driver job as “it was the only company that called me back”.

He was to be paid $450 a month.

But how did John get the job if he suffers from epilepsy? Should he even have a driving licence?

The police told The New Paper that anyone suffering from a condition like John’s should not be allowed to drive. John claimed to have applied for many jobs, but declined to say what kind of jobs he had held before.

But John, who studied up to Primary 8, feels the incident has dimmed his job prospects.

“I think nobody will hire me any more,” he said. “Even my family and friends are angry with me. They think I did it.”

If convicted, John could have been jailed up to five years, and fined or caned.