An aggressive crowd of up to 100 people in a Geylang back lane in July last year forced a policeman to point his service revolver at them for his safety, a court heard.
But a 52-year-old man, who was undeterred, challenged the officer to shoot him .
A district court heard that at about 9.45pm on July 24, five policemen from the Geylang Neighbourhood Police Centre, who were on anti-vice duties, saw an 18-year-old promoting a game of 'Si Gor Luck' at a makeshift gaming table in the back lane between Lorong 14 and Lorong 16 Geylang. They had to use force to handcuff the teenager, as heresisted arrest and tried to flee .
While the officers were doing so, a crowd of about people gathered. They became agitated, and shouted at the policemen to release the teenager.
The crowd then moved towards the officers while shouting vulgarities and gesticulating aggressively. One man flipped over a gaming table, which the officers were standing behind with the teen, while another man took the metal table stand and waved it at the policemen.
The officers continued retreating until they were backed-up against a wall. Fearing for their safety, a sergeant drew his service revolver and pointed it at the crowd. His finger was not on the trigger and he only pointed the gun's laser at the crowd.
This prompted the people to step back but Ho, who was in the crowd, confronted the officer. The policeman then kept his revolver.
Shortly after, more policemen arrived and dispersed the crowd. The incident was partially captured on closed-circuit television cameras.