Man who assaulted police officer 'did not like' his face
SINGAPORE — A secret society member who brutally assaulted a police officer and caused him to suffer a traumatic brain injury with help from his twin brother was jailed for two years, nine months and four weeks on Friday (11 June).
Muhammad Farhan Jaffri and his twin brother Muhammad Fiqkri Jaffri, both 26, attacked Sergeant Chong Jiawei, 27, a ground response officer who was on patrol duty on 23 February last year.
The attack left Chong unconscious and incapacitated, and he was given 29 days of leave due to his injuries.
Farhan, who pleaded guilty to five charges of causing grievous hurt and hurt to a public servant, vandalism, being a member of a secret society and using abusive language on a public servant, was also given three strokes of the cane and fined $3,500. Four charges of a similar nature were considered for his sentencing.
Fiqkri's case is still pending before the courts. He faces seven charges, including causing grievous hurt to a public servant.
On 23 February last year, at about 4am, Farhan, who was drunk, was having an argument with his wife at the void deck of Block 755 Jurong West Street 74 when a member of the public called the police over the commotion.
Four police officers, including Chong, were dispatched to the location, and they saw Farhan’s wife in tears. A female police officer was checking on the wife when Farhan became defensive. At this point, Fiqkri arrived and approached the officers aggressively, pointing his finger at the officers and demanding to know why they were questioning his brother.
Fiqkri asked Farhan and his wife to return to his unit and asked the police officers to “shut up”. Farhan left but verbally abused the female police officer first.
Brother did not "like" officer's face
Within minutes, Farhan returned and shouted that he did not like the faces of the officers. His twin asked Farhan whose face he did not like and Farhan gestured at Chong’s face.
Fiqkri turned to Chong and swung his fist at the officer’s face. Chong fell to the ground and Farhan joined him in assaulting the police officer. Farhan and Fiqkri rained punches and kicks on the officer, despite attempts by the other officers to restrain the brothers.
The brothers hurt another male officer, who was on reservist, during the struggle. Their violence prompted the female police officer to draw her baton and call for reinforcement. They finally managed to handcuff Fiqkri. Two other police officers arrived and handcuffed Farhan.
After Farhan was escorted into the police vehicle, he yelled and knocked his head on the window repeatedly. He then kicked the window three times, causing the right rear window to shatter. At that point in time, one officer was standing guard beside the right rear seat of the vehicle. The damage cost $201. Farhan has since made full restitution.
Chong was conveyed to hospital. His medical report, dated 9 March last year, stated that as a result for the attack, Chong slumped to the ground and briefly lost consciousness. He was diagnosed with abrasions over his eyelid, laceration over his ear, facial bruises, and a concussion. He was admitted for two days into the neurosurgery ward for monitoring.
Due to his traumatic head injury, Chong was given 29 days of hospitalisation leave. The other officer who was injured had bruises and abrasion over his head. Both officers' medical bills were covered by service insurance.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Chng Luey Chi sought a jail term of between 39 months and 4 weeks, and 39 months and 6 weeks, along with three strokes of the cane and a fine of $3,500 against Farhan.
Citing Chong’s victim impact statement, DPP Chng told the court that the police officer was deployed to an administrative role for a month before returning to a frontline role.
“This was to help the victim build up confidence in the execution of his duties as a frontline officer. Moreover, the incident had caused the victim worries about how his supervisors might perceive his abilities,” said DPP Chng.
The manner of the attack was “sustained, brutal, and cruel”, said DPP Chng, who noted that Farhan had attacked the officer simply because he "did not like” Chong’s face.
Voluntarily causing grievous hurt to a public servant carries a jail term of up to 15 years, and fine or caning. Causing hurt to a public servant carries a jail term of seven years and fine or caning.
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