3 men in court for offences involving cabbies

SINGAPORE - Three foreign nationals were hauled to court yesterday over offences involving taxi drivers.

Norwegian Arne Corneliussen, 50, a Singapore permanent resident, faces two counts of voluntarily causing hurt by slapping Chan Chuan Heng and choking the 46-year-old after he had fallen in Circular Road at about 1am on Sept 22.

Corneliussen, who was working in a courier-service company, is represented by Terence Seah.

The lawyer asked for four weeks to make representations and applied for his client to leave for Selangor from Dec 10 to 20 to make arrangements to hand over his work.

Corneliussen, who will be back in court on Jan 6, is out on $5,000 bail.

According to an earlier report, five passers-by helped to shove the 1.89m-tall Corneliussen off the taxi driver's back.

Mr Chan, who suffered a broken left foot, was given medical leave for one week.

In the same court, French chef Michael Michaelidis, 32, allegedly pulled the handbrake of Wong Tuck Woh's cab along Killiney Road on Nov 22, causing it to spin and mount a pavement.

He has been charged with committing a rash act to endanger the personal safety of others. If convicted, he can be jailed for up to one year and/or fined up to $5,000.

Bail of $15,000 was offered. His case is scheduled for a pre-trial conference on Friday.

In a third case, Swedish national Andreas Michel Blomqvist, 29, pleaded not guilty to punching Koh Tat Wah, 59, on the head several times at a lift lobby of Block 182, Ang Mo Kio Avenue 5, at about 1.20am on Sept 20.

A pre-trial conference will be held on Dec 23.

The maximum punishment for causing hurt is two years' jail and a $5,000 fine.

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