SINGAPORE — When two police officers were trying to interview Ng Wee Siang over a domestic dispute he had with his wife, not only was he uncooperative, he later cursed the officers with vulgarities and headbutted one of them.
On Thursday (May 11), the 44-year-old Singaporean was sentenced to 10 weeks' jail after pleading guilty to two charges of using insulting words to a public servant and voluntarily causing hurt to a public servant.
A third charge of spitting on a police officer was taken into consideration during the sentencing.
WHAT HAPPENED
Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Koh Yi Wen told the court that on the night of Oct 22, 2021 at around 8.18pm, the police received a call from a member of public on a fight between five men at Block 919, Hougang Avenue 4, a public housing block.
Special Constable (SC) Koh Jun Xiong and Sergeant Muhammad Izzuwan Syed from Hougang Neighbourhood Police Centre responded to the incident along with other police officers.
Once they arrived, the police ascertained that the incident was not one between five men but had instead been a domestic dispute between Ng and his wife.
As the responding officers were interviewing the couple at the car park, Ng became uncooperative and started to shout at them.
This ultimately led to the officers placing Ng under arrest for disorderly behaviour.
DPP Koh said that as SC Koh and Sergeant Izzuwan attempted to restrain Ng on the way to the police car, Ng demanded to see his wife and four-year-old son who was crying.
However, as Ng was uncooperative, both police officers did not allow him to approach his wife and son.
While he sat in the police vehicle, Ng repeatedly uttered a derogatory term in Malay and cursed at both officers, scolding them "f**k you".
He also headbutted SC Koh on his right temple and spat at Sergeant Izzuwan who was trying to restrain Ng.
Video evidence from a police officer's body cam was presented in court on Thursday.
Footage lasting over 12 minutes showed an intoxicated Ng persistently trying to escape the officers' restraint as he attempted to go to comfort his son who was standing at what looks to be a void deck.
Police officers eventually separated him and placed handcuffs on him in an effort to calm him down but Ng started to shout at bystanders claiming that the officers were "refusing to let him see his son who was crying".
The footage also shows that as the officers tried to get Ng into the police car, he refused to budge from his standing position.
Ng’s slurred sentences could be heard as well, along with the continuous verbal abuse in the form of vulgar insults directed at the officers.
No video evidence was submitted or played in court on the headbutting or spitting incidents.
SC Koh suffered a head contusion and was given one day medical leave.
During police investigations, Ng had admitted to drinking three or four bottles of beer at a nearby coffee shop before his arrest.
A blood test on Ng had found it contained an ethanol level of 45mg/100ml. It was not stated in court documents when the blood sample was taken.
The legal limit for driving is 80mg/100 ml.
SENTENCING
DPP Koh, who sought a sentence of 14 to 16 weeks' jail, said that Ng's "intoxication" prior to his offence was an "aggravating factor".
In his mitigating plea on behalf of Ng, defence counsel Raymond Lye from Union Law LLP said that his client's behaviour was prompted by his desire to approach his wife and son as he had "wished to calm them down because they were crying".
Mr Lye also added that he disagreed with the prosecution's position that the case and that there was "little to no" erosion of public respect since the spitting and headbutting of officers involved had occurred out of public sight in the police car.
However, DPP Koh argued that the offence was committed at the void deck near an HDB block at about 8.20pm and that there were several bystanders observing the incident then.
In delivering her sentence, District Judge Sharmila Sripathy-Shanaz said that it would be a "gross miscategorisation" to say that Ng's actions did not erode public respect for authority because his "belligerent" behaviour in a housing estate was well within view of the public.
She stated that his subsequent openly "raucous" conduct towards the responding officers and acts of "physical retaliation" must be strongly denounced as it would be remiss to minimise Ng's behaviour.
District Judge Sripathy-Shanaz said that while this may have appeared to be a one-off incident that is out of character, his "very public defiance" cannot be condoned and must therefore be strongly deterred.
Anyone found guilty of using insulting words on a public servant can be fined up to S$5,000 or jailed for up to 12 months, or both.
Those found guilty of voluntarily causing hurt to a public servant can be jailed for up to seven years and fined or caned.
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May 11, 2023 at 08:00PM
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Man gets 10 weeks' jail for hurling vulgar insults at police officers, headbutting one of them - TODAY
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