Woman gets 6 months' jail for biting police officer
Two policemen responding to a call for assistance found themselves requiring help from more officers to arrest a 40-year-old woman - who had hurled vulgarities at one of them and even bit the forearm of the other.
Lim Huei Tien, who was drunk then, at one point also sat on the floor of her flat, took off her shirt and used her mobile phone to record the two officers while accusing them of touching her inappropriately, a district court heard.
She then stood up and walked towards Sergeant Oh Zhi Zhong, 22, challenging him to touch her.
When Sgt Oh stepped back, she continued to walk towards him.
So, Sgt Muhammad Shaifudin Shah Effendi, 25, tried to restrain her by putting his hand on her shoulder. That was when Lim turned around and bit him on the forearm.
More officers later came and arrested Lim.
A video of the incident recorded by Sgt Shaifudin's body camera was shown in court on Friday (Nov 17).
Sentencing her to six months' jail for biting the officer, District Judge Ng Peng Hong told Lim that it was certainly "very unbecoming" of her to behave in such a manner.
Lim, who pleaded guilty to three charges, was fined $3,000 for using abusive words on Sgt Shaifudin. She was given three weeks' jail, to run concurrently, for pushing Sgt Oh along the staircase landing of a Housing Board block in Woodlands Street 31 on Nov 5, 2016.
The court heard that the two officers attended to the incident after someone called police for assistance at 12.15am that day.
When the pair arrived, they saw Lim inside her flat and asked her about the situation, but she refused to answer.
About 10 minutes later, she hurled vulgarities repeatedly at Sgt Shaifudin, despite warnings not to do so.
She came out of her flat and continued shouting and behaving in a disorderly manner. Sgt Oh tried to calm her down and was pushed. She then sat on the floor, removed her shirt and filmed the officers with her phone.
Four other charges were taken into consideration in sentencing.
Her lawyer Jonathan Low successfully asked that his client's sentence be deferred, so that the divorcee can make care arrangements for her two children. She will surrender on Nov 30.
Lim could have been jailed for up to seven years and/or fined for biting the officer; and jailed for up to four years and/or fined for assaulting a public servant to deter him from carrying out his duty. The maximum penalty for using abusive words under the Protection from Harassment Act is a $5,000 fine and 12 months' jail.
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