Consultant jailed for lying that cop put gun to his head
Satwant Singh was jailed 20 weeks on Tuesday for giving false information to a public servant.
Published 17 Nov 2015
Elena Chong
Court Correspondent
SINGAPORE - Annoyed at the way police had handled his matter, an overseas consultant made multiple calls to the police alleging that the sergeant who showed up had put a gun to his head.
Satwant Singh, 55, who called the police four times in as many hours on Oct 29 last year, was jailed 20 weeks on Tuesday after he had admitted to three of five charges of giving false information to a public servant.
The court heard that Satwant had sought help from the police after a dispute with a neighbour. Sergeant Muhammad Faris Suparli and his partner attended to the incident.
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Satwant felt that they did not handle the matter satisfactorily and called 999 making various allegations against Sgt Faris.
At 7.04pm , he called saying that the sergeant had earlier put a gun to his head, instructing him not to call the police any more as he was drunk.
Further investigation showed that he had made the call because he wanted a more experienced officer.
That evening, when a senior investigation officer was interviewing Satwant at his home, he told the police officer that Sgt Faris had pointed his revolver at his face when he opened the door of his unit. He also said he saw Sgt Faris point the revolver at him briefly and that he panicked and shut the door.
But when he was interviewed further, Satwant could not elaborate how Sgt Faris had held the revolver. He affirmed he was not lying despite being told of the offence of providing false information to the police.
Subsequent investigations showed that his allegations were untrue.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Eunice Lau, who had sought three months' jail per charge, said Satwant had impeded public servants in the exercise of their duties by his calls. There was unnecessary diversion of public resources and time was spent recording statements from the public servant who he had falsely complained against.
She also said the false allegation he made was a serious crime which caused the officer distress.
Satwant, who was unrepresented, apologised for what he did, saying he was having a strained relationship with his wife, who is back in the Philippines.
He could have been jailed for up to one year and/or fined up to $5,000 per charge.
