Man hurls abuse at officer, threatens strangers with knife
A man hurled abuse at an auxiliary officer in May after becoming upset that he could not park his personal mobility aid (PMA) at the Bedok Police Divisional Headquarters.
He was later found to have threatened two strangers with a knife and assaulted his girlfriend on two separate occasions in 2024.
On Sept 27, Subhan Ariffin pleaded guilty to one charge of using criminal force against a public servant, one for criminal intimidation, one for voluntarily causing grievous hurt, one for possession of a weapon and one count of harassment.
Six other charges were taken into consideration during his sentencing.
The 40-year-old was sentenced to seven months and 14 weeks’ jail and six strokes of the cane.
The court heard he had at least 10 previous convictions starting from 2003 relating to theft, disorderly conduct, drug consumption, extortion, and causing grievous hurt.
He had also previously been sentenced to five years’ corrective training and 10 strokes of the cane for voluntarily causing hurt, being in possession of a weapon in public and criminal intimidation.
A corrective sentence involves a jail term of at least five years, up to a maximum of 14 years. It is usually reserved for repeat offenders and does not offer the usual one-third remission for good behaviour.
Assistant Public Prosecutor Chye Jer Yuan told the court that Subhan rode his PMA to the Bedok police headquarters on May 23 but was stopped by an auxiliary officer.
Subhan started to hurl vulgarities at the officer when he was informed that he could not park his PMA within the police compound.
He also continued to move his PMA forward, eventually hitting the officer’s shin.
APP Chye said that Subhan faces five other similar charges, including hurling abuse at police officers and nurses, which will be taken into consideration during sentencing.
Separately, the prosecutor said Subhan got into an argument with his 60-year-old girlfriend on Jan 4.
During the argument, Subhan pushed his girlfriend with enough force to fracture her rib after she tried to hug him.
His girlfriend later called her social worker and admitted she had been beaten by Subhan on multiple previous occasions. She also informed the social worker that she could not get up as Subhan had hit her spine with a belt.
The social worker then helped to call the police.
On Sept 27, District Judge Koo Zhi Xuan said: “Ultimately, you need to find practical means such that you do not get into such situations with people you do not know, and even those you claim to love.”
The court also heard that Subhan had confronted two strangers at a public playground in Bedok North on June 29, 2023
He had gone up to the pair and aggressively asked what they were doing there. He then took out a knife with a 17cm blade from his back pocket and pointed it at them.
As he walked away, the two men saw Subhan had stashed a second knife in his back pocket.
Subhan, who has been remanded since his arrest in May 2024, appeared in court via video link.
During mitigation, he asked for leniency and promised the judge he would not reoffend and appear in court again.
In response, the judge said: “You can consider yourself lucky that the prosecution is not pushing for another stint of corrective sentences, because I would have seriously considered it.”
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