Smoker jailed for hitting NEA officer

SINGAPORE- A stall assistant lit a cigarette in the non-smoking area of a coffee shop in Bukit Batok and was spotted doing so by three National Environment Agency (NEA) enforcement officers.

When the officers, who were in plainclothes, asked Jason Tan Yong Sing, 32, for his particulars, he claimed that his identity card was not with him.

The smoker was asked to give other form of identification but he refused to cooperate.

The commotion at the eating house at Block 537, Bukit Batok Street 52, attracted the attention of other patrons who asked the officers to let Tan off.

Tan took advantage of the situation to leave the scene but the three NEA officers saw him walking away and followed him. They told him to stop but he ignored them.

At a nearby void deck, Tan suddenly turned around and swung his right arm at one of the officers, Mr Goh Mun Hwa, 32, hitting him on the chest.

One of the officers also saw Tan holding a pocket knife in his hand. Fearing for their safety, the officers pinned Tan to the ground. They then called the police.

Yesterday, Tan was jailed for two months after admitting to causing hurt to Mr Goh on Oct 10 this year.

He was given one month's imprisonment on a second charge of stealing $1,000 from his employer while working part-time as a coffee maker at a coffee shop in Jurong Gateway Road on Sept 27.

As both sentences are ordered to run consecutively, Tan's total sentence is three months' jail.

Tan has previous convictions for causing hurt with a dangerous weapon, criminal breach of trust and Customs offences.

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