SINGAPORE – A bus driver stopped the vehicle and locked its doors after he noticed two men drinking in it.
Upon realising this, Aziz Khan Sher Khan held the driver down as Ahmad Robinson beat him up, fracturing the man’s nasal bone.
For his part in the assault, Aziz, 61, was sentenced to 10 months’ jail with additional enhanced sentence of 24 days in court on Wednesday (Dec 29).
The Singaporean pleaded guilty to one count of voluntarily causing grievous hurt.
A warrant of arrest was issued for Ahmad on Dec 1 after he failed to turn up in court, and he remains at large.
According to court documents, Aziz and Ahmad, having already drunk alcohol, boarded the Go-Ahead Singapore bus at the stop at Selarang Halfway House at about 10.35am on Nov 2.
They sat at the front of the bus, and the driver told them to put on their masks properly when he noticed them drinking beer.
He reported the matter to Go-Ahead Singapore’s control room and was advised to stop and lock the doors as a police report had been made.
The driver then locked the doors and stopped the bus along Loyang Avenue.
Angered, Aziz and Ahmad confronted the driver and shouted at him to open the door, but he refused.
The duo approached the driver and spoke to him in a threatening manner. Aziz then grabbed the driver by his shirt before returning to his seat.
Ahmad also hurled vulgarities at the driver and grabbed his shirt, as a tussle broke out.
The driver took out his mobile phone to try to make a call but Ahmad hit it out of his hand. Aziz joined in and restrained the driver.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Emily Koh said: “At this point in time, while (Aziz) was holding on to the victim’s left arm to restrain him, (Ahmad) climbed over the bus driver’s cabin door and went into the driver’s cabin area.”
Ahmad then slapped, punched and hit the victim’s head and face multiple times, as well as his nose area. He also kicked him multiple times.
The two men fled after the bus doors were accidentally opened.
Another passenger who had been on the bus called the police.
The bus driver underwent an X-ray which revealed the nasal fracture and he was granted hospitalisation leave for seven days.
DPP Koh asked for a 12 to 18 months’ jail sentence with an enhanced sentence of 24 days.
She cited the fact that the attack was done on a public transport worker, was one-sided and a result of self-induced intoxication as some of the reasons for the sentence.
In meting out his sentence to Aziz, District Judge Lim Wen Juin said the bus driver was vulnerable during the assault as he was trapped on the bus.
But he acknowledged that Aziz had a reduced culpability compared to Ahmad as he had mainly been involved in restraining the victim.
His sentence was backdated to Nov 3.
