SINGAPORE: Drunk and upset that he had not alighted at his stop, a man made a scene on a public bus and tapped the driver’s face with his EZ-Link card.
Wilson Loh, 53, was sentenced to five weeks’ jail and fined S$1,500 (US$1,168) on Monday (Jul 21) for offences committed over the entire episode.
He pleaded guilty to one count of public nuisance and two counts of criminal force – by tapping the card on the bus driver’s face and pushing the hand of a passenger who tried to intervene.
A fourth charge was considered in sentencing.
The court heard that Loh had drunk eight bottles of beer at a coffee shop in Commonwealth from 12pm on Mar 18 this year.
At around 6pm, he left to head home and boarded bus 195, which was driven by the victim, 46-year-old bus captain Yin Xusheng. Loh intended to alight at the next bus stop.
When the bus arrived at Loh’s intended location, Mr Yin stopped the bus for the passengers to board and alight, but Loh did not alight.
When the driver moved off, Loh approached him and accused him of not allowing him to alight.
The bus driver explained that he had opened the exit door for passengers to alight.
Unhappy, Loh used his EZ-Link card to tap the bus driver’s face. This was an act of criminal force intended to cause annoyance and done without grave or sudden provocation, the court heard.
On the way to the next bus stop, Loh made a scene on the bus, causing annoyance to the other passengers.
At about 7pm the bus arrived at the stop with Loh still shouting. The bus driver stopped the vehicle and tried to explain matters to Loh, who refused to listen and disrupted the bus service.
A 75-year-old passenger approached Loh in an attempt to calm him down, but Loh remained upset.
He pushed the man’s hand, causing him to drop his phone on the floor. The device was not damaged.
A police report was made and Loh was arrested at about 8.20pm.
The prosecution said Loh has a long history of convictions since 1989 but mentioned only the relevant ones.
These include disorderly behaviour, snatch theft, a rash act and voluntarily causing hurt. Loh was given fines, jail terms and corrective training for these offences.
His latest sentences were for two convictions in September 2024, for voluntarily causing hurt. He was given 12 and 14 weeks’ jail respectively.
The guilty plea nearly fell through when his bailor expressed her intention to discharge herself. She ultimately agreed to continue in her role after being persuaded by the accused.
In mitigation, Loh said through a Mandarin interpreter that he feels “agitated” when someone films him after receiving his fifth COVID-19 vaccine.
“Because someone was filming me, so I just slapped his hand,” he said.
District Judge Eddy Tham told him that the problem was his self-intoxication.
“You need to bear the consequences of your actions, because even though you may not have the intention or even remember exactly what happened, the fact is that if you drink yourself to that extent when you become less controlled … then the fault … really lies in yourself,” he said.
Loh admitted this was so.
The judge continued that it does not matter to the victim if Loh had any intention to commit the offence or not, because the fact is that harm was caused.
“If you really want to change, you need to do something about your drinking. Control your drinking so you don’t behave that way, and if you can’t control your drinking then you should really cease drinking,” said Judge Tham.
Loh agreed and said he did attend anger management sessions.
He was allowed a deferment to attend ultrasound appointments.
The case comes after new signs were placed on public transport to curb behaviour that poses a nuisance.
The Land Transport Authority said earlier this month that more than 160 notifications of offence had been issued since the signs were introduced.
