4½ years' jail for man who beat up police officers
A man who rained blows on police officers, causing one of them to suffer a traumatic head injury, was sentenced to 4½ years' jail and six strokes of the cane on Monday (May 23).
The prosecution had earlier called the assault one of the worst attacks against police officers to date.
On Monday, Muhammad Fiqkri Jaffri, 28, appeared in court via video-link to have his sentence read out to him.
He expressed remorse for his actions through his lawyer, Ms Audrey Koo from Populus Law, and added that he has since been taking medication and getting religious counselling.
Fiqkri last month pleaded guilty to two counts of voluntarily causing grievous hurt to a public servant and one count each of vandalism, criminal intimidation, and being a member of a secret society.
Last June, his twin brother, Muhammad Farhan Jaffri, was sentenced to 33 months and four weeks' jail, three strokes of the cane, and a fine of $3,500.
The court heard earlier that the brothers were sharing a bottle of whisky at their home before the incident on Feb 23, 2020, when Farhan's wife returned and the couple got into an argument.
The couple went to the void deck to continue the argument, and a member of the public called the police.
Four officers, including Sergeant Chong Jia Wei, 27, and Staff Sergeant Tity Sumarni Abd Ghani, 35, arrived at Block 755 Jurong West Street 74 at around 4am.
When Staff Sgt Sumarni asked the couple if they were all right, Farhan hurled vulgarities at the policewoman.
Fiqkri heard Farhan's shouts and went to the void deck.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Dwayne Lum told the court that Fiqkri approached the police officers aggressively and demanded to know what was wrong. He told Farhan and his wife to go up to the unit, while gesturing aggressively at the police officers and telling them to shut up.
Farhan again hurled vulgarities at Staff Sgt Sumarni before leaving but returned minutes later.
He then told Fiqkri that he did not like Sgt Chong's face.
Fiqkri asked Farhan repeatedly if he wanted Fiqkri to "shoot" Sgt Chong, as he held up a fist. By "shoot", he meant punch Sgt Chong, said DPP Lum.
Both brothers then punched and kicked Sgt Chong on the face and body until Sgt Chong managed to pin Fiqkri on the ground.
Two other officers managed to restrain Farhan, while Staff Sgt Sumarni struck Fiqkri with her baton. Fiqkri taunted Staff Sgt Sumarni and told her he was a secret society member.
Two more officers, including Sgt Chen Jian Da, 28, arrived and Fiqkri was arrested. He headbutted Sgt Chen despite being handcuffed.
The two injured officers were taken to hospital. Sgt Chong spent two days in a neurosurgery ward and was given 29 days of hospitalisation leave, while Sgt Chen was given five days of outpatient sick leave for a fractured nasal bone.
For each count of voluntarily causing grievous hurt to a public servant, an offender can be jailed for up to 15 years and fined or caned.
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