Man in Woodlands spitting incident sentenced to 5 weeks' jail
The man at the centre of the Woodlands Bus Interchange spitting incident last year was sentenced to five weeks in jail and slapped an $800 fine, but he was wiping away grateful tears as he was led out of court handcuffed.
Juraimi bin Kamaludin, 48, was on Thursday found guilty of criminal use of force, causing a public nuisance as well as for a rash act endangering life and the personal safety of others.
The charge of disorderly behaviour, which was initially stood down, was taken into consideration.
District judge Lim Keng Yeow described Juraimi’s move to push a woman off a bus “shocking” and “wholly unjustifiable”.
While Juraimi had initially claimed during his three-day trial earlier this week that the woman he ended up spitting at had used vulgarities and insulted his mother, Lim said that would have been evident from the videos that emerged from the incident, but there was no such indication of her saying those things at the boarding platform.
While Juraimi claimed he was “regretful of his actions and remorseful”, he also seemed unwilling to take full responsibility for his actions, said the judge.
In a surprising turn, however, the judge urged Juraimi to avoid getting into trouble in future, bearing in mind Juraimi’s previous string of convictions, the last of which landed him in prison up till October 2011.
“I hope you won’t ever have to go back to prison again,” Lim said.
Asked if he wanted to stay out of prison and out of trouble, the bespectacled Juraimi, who was in a pink collared shirt and blue jeans, responded, “I want to change. Thank you, Your Honour… There’s no more imprisonment for me.”
District Judge Lim then set a target period of three years, after which he asked Juraimi to see him in court again. “(I hope you will be) living a good and productive life."
Juraimi then removed his spectacles in tears, said he was “speechless… No one has ever said that to me. I am very, very happy and grateful”.
Saying he plans to get married and settle down, he told District Judge Lim, “I just want this thing to be over. I want to get on with my life.”
To which District Judge Lim responded, “I want to see that happen."
Watch the original video of what happened here:
