Jailed: Man tasered by police twice after walking on busy road near Esplanade
SINGAPORE — A man who had two taser shots fired at him after he was found walking in the middle of a busy road near the Esplanade was jailed on Thursday (30 December) after admitting to using violence on police officers, consuming drugs and disorderly behaviour.
Hassan Mansoor Mohammed Ameen, 30, was sentenced to one year and 29 weeks’ jail. The Singaporean pleaded guilty to two counts of voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servants from their duties, one count of consuming methamphetamine, and one count of behaving in a disorderly manner on a public road.
Four charges of a similar nature were also considered for his sentencing.
The incident along Esplanade Drive last year was captured in a video and circulated extensively on social media.
Facts of the case
On 21 August 2020, two police officers were on their morning patrol along Esplanade Drive when they spotted Hassan walking on the road at the junction of Esplanade Drive and Fullerton Road. Hassan was walking against the flow of traffic, causing the cars to either stop or slow down.
One of the officers alighted their vehicle to speak to Hassan, who moved to the pavement before resuming his walk on the road. The officer told Hassan to move off the road or be placed under arrest.
As Hassan ignored him, the officer called for backup and four more officers arrived on the scene. Despite their efforts, Hassan refused to get off the road, even adopting a fighting stance and shouting that the police officers were “fake”. The officers decided to arrest him.
Hassan became aggressive and swung his hands. He pushed one of the officers on his chest and hit another officer on the right side of his face.
This prompted an officer to use his taser on Hassan, who fell down but managed to stand up and remove the probes. He punched another officer in the face before fleeing against the flow of traffic, with the officers giving chase.
During their pursuit, one of the officers fell and scraped his palm and knees. By the time they caught up with Hassan, he had taken off his top.
The officer used his taser again and Hassan was arrested. He was conveyed to Singapore General Hospital (SGH).
Attacked security officers in hospital
Six days after he was admitted to SGH, Hassan turned violent again after his request to buy a drink was rejected by a nurse, who was concerned about his medical condition.
In response, Hassan took the nurse’s staff pass and threw it on a trolley. An auxiliary police officer and five other security officers were then activated.
Hassan swore at the officers and went to take a lift, kicking an officer for stopping him. He was arrested again and a police report lodged.
Separately, on 8 January this year, Hassan threatened to cut off his father’s head. Hassan’s brother called the police and Hassan was arrested. His urine samples were found to contain methamphetamine.
Hassan admitted to consuming Ice, the street name of methamphetamine, on 3 January. He had been doing so weekly since October last year as he was “bored and stressed about his personal life”, according to the prosecution.
Accused had attended filming in Fullerton area prior to 21 August offence
Hassan's pro bono lawyers, Jonathan Wong, Riko Isaac and Tan Zhi Rui from Tembusu Law said that their client had been intoxicated the night before the offence around Esplanade. Hassan, who was a calefare actor with Mediacorp, then went for a shoot in the Fullerton vicinity on 21 August.
"The last thing he remembers clearly is that he had attended a shoot and started feeling paranoid. He called his father to come pick him up. He also asked his father to call the police as he was afraid for his own personal safety," the lawyers said.
His father and police officers arrived on the scene. When the police walked towards him to calm him down, Hassan walked onto the road. After he had been tasered, Hassan's distress and pain prompted him to swing a fist at an officer.
The defence lawyers alleged that Hassan's kidney was damaged as a result of the taser. However the prosecution replied that there was no medical evidence to support this claim, which the defence lawyers' later acknowledged.
While he had been warded at SGH, Hassan asked the auxiliary police officers to stop following him given that he was on bail. He then grew impatient with them. Upon entering a lift, Hassan kicked an officer impulsively, as he was shocked that the officer touched his shoulder lightly.
Due to the stress of the events, Hassan turned to drugs to relieve himself.
The lawyers also revealed Hassan's personal circumstances, saying that Hassan's relationship with his wife had deteriorated and he intends to divorce her. Hassan then experienced a second heartbreak after another woman, a co-worker that he intended to marry, became engaged to another man.
"The pain of two consecutive heartbreaks led our client to fall into a very depressive state and he was unable to cope with the mix of emotions he was experiencing at the time. This would be the beginning of his downfall, eventually leading to commission of the offences," said the lawyers.
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