SINGAPORE: A man advised against leaving his home to drink alcohol during the COVID-19 pandemic verbally abused police officers and used force to resist arrest.
He drank two cans of beer before heading to court, where he was aggressive to a police officer in the charge court, cursing and pointing his middle finger at him.
AdvertisementAdvertisementFor his actions, Christopher Amurutham, 56, was sentenced to 11 weeks' jail on Wednesday (May 13).
He pleaded guilty to one count of using criminal force on a public servant, two counts of using abusive words and one charge of leaving his house home to drink alcohol and eat in public without a valid reason.
A fifth charge of not wearing a mask over his nose and mouth while outside his home was taken into consideration.
The court heard that Christopher left his home without wearing a face mask at about 6.15am on Apr 18.
AdvertisementAdvertisementHe began drinking Chinese wine at about 6.30am, while walking to the bus stop, knowing that he could not stop drinking once he started as he would "get high", said Deputy Public Prosecutor Joshua Lim.
Christopher then took a bus from Toa Payoh, transferring to another bus at Raffles Institution and wandering around before boarding another bus at Bishan at 10.13am.
Christopher does not recall where he went for parts of the morning. However, he bought a packet of rice and a bottle of whiskey and went to a public bench near Block 20, Lorong 7 Toa Payoh.
SPOTTED BY SAFE-DISTANCING AMBASSADORS
A safe-distancing ambassador and his partner saw Christopher there at 12.25pm, with the packet of rice that he had eaten and half the bottle of whiskey consumed.
When the ambassador tried talking to Christopher, he was not responsive as he was drunk and his speech was slurred.
He was advised repeatedly to return home, but did not comply and instead continued drinking the whiskey.
After more reminders, Christopher walked aggressively towards the ambassador and cursed at him and his partner.
The ambassador called the police for help, and two officers arrived. They tried to ask Christopher if he needed help going home, but he was incoherent and said he had been drinking.
[h=3]READ: Man charged with wearing mask improperly, leaving house without reason and attacking police[/h]One of the officers told him that he had breached regulation 4 of the COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) (Control Order) regulations 2020.
This angered Christopher, who shouted many vulgarities at the police officer, calling her an idiot and "bloody fool".
He cursed for half an hour, even after he was arrested and placed in the police car. He put up a struggle during the arrest, pushing the police officer's hand away forcefully and throwing her off balance.
He nearly slapped the officer's face and almost struck the face of another off-duty officer who stopped by to help.
By the time he was arrested, Christopher had left his home for almost seven hours without a valid reason.
ANOTHER DRUNKEN OUTBURST IN THE COURT
Four days later, Christopher went to the State Courts to be charged for the above offences. However, he drank two cans of Guinness Stout before that and was observed by police officers to be tipsy and smelling of alcohol.
When in the charge court, Christopher became unhappy and agitated due to some sound issues with the laptop through which he would attend the hearing.
He suddenly became aggressive towards a police officer at the court, walking up to him with his face in close proximity to the officer's, forcing the latter to take a few steps back.
Christopher stared at the officer and cursed at him. When the officer told him to sit down and mind his language, Christopher did not budge, even when other officers intervened.
He pointed his middle finger at the officer twice, while members of the public were present in the courtroom and could see what was happening.
The prosecutor asked for 14 weeks' jail, noting that Christopher had previous dated convictions including theft in 1981 and disorderly behaviour in 1990.
Christopher, who was unrepresented, apologised to all the officers involved and said "everything go haywire" because of his drinking.
When asked by the judge if he had a drinking issue, Christopher said: "Actually, no, I was doing well actually."
He added that "the law now is very strict", "no more like warning, straightaway you will be arrested because of COVID-19".
Christopher said he regrets his actions and that he actually respects uniformed officers, who are the "protectors of the public".
District Judge Ong Hian Sun pointed out that Christopher had drunk not once but twice, to which Christopher said he did so as his job as a cleaner is a tough one.
The prosecutor said that drinking was not a mitigating factor, and said that Christopher's claim of respecting uniformed officers was not borne out in the facts.
"It's quite clear to me that you have some drinking issue to address," said the judge.
He said he would call for an assessment of the underlying cause of Christopher's repeat offending.
For cursing at a police officer, Christopher could have been jailed for up to a year, fined up to S$5,000, or both.
For using criminal force on a public servant carrying out their duties, he could have been jailed for up to four years, fined, or both.
He could have been jailed for up to six months, fined up to S$10,000, or both for leaving his house without a reasonable excuse during the circuit breaker period.
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