Man jailed for spitting blood at police officer
He also spat at SCDF paramedic and kicked another officer on the shin
A police officer accidentally swallowed the blood of a violent bleeding man who had spat in his face.
The drunken man, Tan Yew Hock, 66, also spat in the face of a paramedic from the Singapore Civil Defence Force, and some of the bloody spit entered the paramedic's eye.
Yesterday, the retiree, who used to be a businessman, was jailed for six weeks.
He was convicted of one charge of using criminal force to deter a public servant from the discharge of his duty, with a similar charge taken into consideration. The court was told that Tan is married, but lives with his mistress and two sons.
On May 13, he was drinking in his bedroom at night when he started arguing with his mistress. He became violent and kicked down his bedroom cupboard door, alarming his son who called the police at about 1.30am on May 14.
When paramedics arrived, they found bloodstains on Tan's face, arms and body, and saw that he was bleeding from a cut on his lip. Tan was on aspirin for his heart condition, causing his blood to thin and flow profusely. Tan said the cause of the cut was an accident.
As a paramedic tried to treat him, Tan spat at the left side of the man's face. Some of the spit, which contained blood, entered the paramedic's left eye.
A police officer later held Tan's hand and tried to get him to calm down. But Tan spat in the officer's face, knowing his spit contained blood. The officer inadvertently swallowed some of the blood.
Tan was then arrested and placed on a stretcher, but he attempted to break free by thrashing about, kicking another officer on the shin. It took the combined efforts of several officers to restrain Tan and bandage his legs before he submitted to the arrest.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Dan Pan asked the court to impose at least six weeks' jail and noted that in recent years there have been more abuse cases directed at police officers.
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