THOSE who assault public transport workers will be firmly dealt with by the courts, an appeal judge warned on Tuesday as he tripled the jail term for a man who pushed and punched a cabby.

Wong Hoi Len, 50, was initially sentenced to one months' jail in March for the assault on 49-year-old taxi driver Toon Chin Joon.

The two men got into a scuffle after Wong threw up in Mr Toon's taxi. The cabby died at the scene of a heart attack.

Wong appealed against his jail term but Justice V. K. Rajah decided to stiffen his sentence instead to three months.