Jailed: Drunk passenger who assaulted cabby, caused motorcyclist's injury
A taxi passenger who was drunk and drooling accused his cabby of not being the driver of the vehicle and assaulted him by the side of the road.
At the State Courts on Thursday (7 February), Meera Moideen Sehu Mohamed, 33, was jailed a total of three months and four weeks for the attack on taxi driver Hoe Hwee Sin, 59, and other crimes.
He pleaded guilty to four charges – two of causing hurt, one each of using vulgarities on a policeman and one of causing hurt by a rash act that endangered the safety of others.
Opened cab door suddenly, hitting m-cyclist
Hoe picked up Meera and the latter’s cousin from the taxi stand at Orchard Towers at about 8.25am on 24 May 2017.
The duo had been earlier drinking beer and hard liquor at the Naughty Girl nightclub.
About 10 minutes into their journey towards Clementi, Hoe spotted Meera drooling inside the cab. The driver told his passenger to stop it as it would stain the seat and that it was also unhygienic.
Unhappy, Meera started arguing incoherently with Hoe. Among other things, the drunk passenger accused Hoe of not being the vehicle’s driver.
Hoe stopped his taxi along Paterson Hill in the direction of Kim Seng Promenade for the passengers to alight.
However, Meera suddenly opened the left rear passenger door without checking for any oncoming traffic.
The door hit motorcyclist Marwan Ahmad, 39, who was unable to take evasive action. Marwan fell off his motorcycle and landed on the road. He suffered a bruise and abrasions.
Hit cabby with mobile phone
Hoe alighted from his cab to check on the Marwan. The cabby also took out his mobile phone so that he could take photos of the accident scene.
Meera then became aggressive towards Hoe. He snatched Hoe’s phone and threw it into a nearby drain.
The accused then used his own mobile phone to hit the cabby in the face, causing a small cut on his right eyebrow. Meera also kicked Hoe on the calf.
The cabby then pushed the drunk man away and the latter fell onto the road.
Shortly after, Meera was arrested at scene by policemen. While in a police car, he spewed vulgarities in English and Tamil at a policeman.
Assaulted relative while on bail
On 10 March 2018, while out on bail, Meera assaulted his distant relative.
After another night of drinking at Orchard Towers, Meera and three friends stood around the taxi stand there at about 9am.
Meera’s friend Valentonio Christopher, 25, was speaking to Meera’s relative Ahamed Bazeer, 33, when a scuffle ensued. During the scrap, another member of the group, 40-year-old Muraly Jayaraman, was punched at least twice.
Ahamed pushed Valentonio, causing him to fall backwards and hit the glass panel of a shop, which shattered.
Meera and one of his friends then punched Ahamed, causing him to fall onto the ground.
Meera, Valentonio, Suresh Krishnamoorthy, 33, and Mohamed Naina Abdul Salam, 31, then kicked Ahamed multiple times.
When Ahamed got up from the ground, the group rained punches on him.
Muraly and Ahamed walked away, but the group followed them along Claymore Road, punching and kicking Ahamed along the way. Valentonio even threw a bicycle and a glass bottle at the victim.
For causing hurt, Meera could have been jailed up to two years and fined up to $5,000. He could have been jailed for up to one year and fined up to $5,000 for causing hurt by a rash act endangering the personal safety of others.
For using vulgarities on policeman, he could have been fined up to $5,000 and jailed up to one year.
The cases against Valentonio, Suresh and Naina are pending.
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