I’ll bite you to death’: Woman jailed for scratching, kicking, swearing at police in drunken row at MRT station
- Restaurant worker Wang Zhaomei, 49, was at the Raffles Place MRT station after some drinks with her husband and friends
- The altercation broke out when police officers tried to escort the visibly drunk couple out of the station
- Wang told the court that she was “deeply sorry” to all of whom she had caused harm
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Wang, 49, was jailed for 16 weeks on Monday (Nov 15), after pleading guilty to four charges: One of voluntarily causing hurt and another criminal force against a public servant, as well as two counts of using abusive words towards a public servant.Three other charges related to the altercation were taken into consideration during sentencing: For spitting at a police officer, not wearing her mask properly and causing annoyance in a public place while drunk.
Her husband, cleaner Li Yong, 50, was sentenced last month to four weeks and two days’ jail for assaulting two police officers and causing annoyance to a third while drunk.
The couple are both Chinese nationals.
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Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Zhou Yang told the court that before the incident on Aug 13 last year, the pair had dinner with two friends at a hotpot restaurant where the four of them shared two large bottles of Chinese baijiu liquor.
That night, three police officers who were patrolling the station spotted Li and Wang arguing at a platform. Li had been laying on the floor drunk while Wang tried to rouse him.
One of the police officers, Sergeant Timothy Khoo, 20, called another team of officers for backup.
The officers approached the couple to escort them out of the station but they refused to co-operate, DPP Zhou said.
Li had to be pinned to the ground and handcuffed.
Wang, meanwhile, became agitated after some struggle and pulled off Sgt Khoo’s police lanyard, all the while shouting that Li and her had not committed any offence.
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With Sgt Khoo’s lanyard in her hands, Wang then claimed that the officers were trying to take her belongings.
A scuffle ensued when Sgt Khoo tried to restrain Wang to get his lanyard back and Wang scratched Sgt Khoo’s lanyard in the process, causing his left hand to bleed.
Wang then told Sgt Khoo in Mandarin: “(If) you don’t let me go, I’ll bite you to death.”
She was later handcuffed after officers failed to get her on a wheelchair. The pair were taken to a room by police officers as MRT staff members urged commuters to refrain from taking photos.
Along the way, Wang repeatedly shouted and hurled expletives at Sgt Khoo, and told him at one point: “I’m (a) Chinese national, you are all dog food… bastard.”
After the couple were brought into the room, Wang kicked another police officer’s thigh and groin and swore at him.
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Footage from a police officer’s body cam of the altercation was played in court on Monday as Wang stood watching from the docks.
Wang, who did not have a lawyer, cried as she addressed the court in Mandarin through an interpreter: “I’m deeply sorry to all whom I’ve caused harm.”
She added that she needed to care for her elderly parents and her mother-in-law back home, all of whom are in their 80s, and asked for a fine instead of a jail term.
“I hope I will be given a chance to stay in Singapore. I know I was in the wrong. I will not repeat this same mistake,” she said.
For using criminal force on a public servant with the intent of preventing him from discharging his duty, she could have been jailed for up to four years, fined, caned or punished with both. For voluntarily causing hurt to a public servant, she could have been jailed up to seven years, fined, caned or punished with any combination of the three.
For using abusive words towards a public servant, she could have been jailed for up to 12 months, fined up to S$5,000, or punished with both.
