Man jailed for throwing rubbish bin cover at policewoman's head
A 25-year-old man who was drunk and involved in a fight at St James Power Station threw the cover of a rubbish bin in the direction of a policewoman, a court heard.
The cover hit the victim on her forehead and caused some swelling.
At the State Courts on Tuesday (13 November), Sooraj Selvaraj was sentenced to four weeks’ jail, having pleaded guilty to one charge of causing hurt by doing a rash act that endangered human life or the personal safety of others.
The court heard that Sooraj went drinking with two friends at St James Power Station at about 2am on 9 August 2016. He drank whisky and became intoxicated. At about 6.35am, Sooraj and his friends got into a fight with another group of two or three people.
The 37-year-old policewoman and her partner responded to a call for help at about 6.45am.
When the police were at the scene, the two groups involved in the fight were shouting and gesturing aggressively at each other. The victim and her partner separated the two groups, with the help of other police officers.
At about 6.50am, while the policewoman had her back turned to Sooraj, the latter reached for the top over of a rubbish bin that was beside him. He threw the cover in the policewoman’s direction and it hit the left side of the victim’s forehead.
Sooraj was immediately arrested.
Incumbent on courts to protect cops
In passing sentence, District Judge Marvin Bay noted the “prevalence of an alarming rise in assaults against officers from the Home Team”. Between 2014 and 2016, there had been a 65 per cent rise in abuse of officers.
Said the judge, “I am of the view that it is incumbent on our courts to support the principle that those who preserve law and order and protect society concomitantly deserve to feel assured that they will be protected adequately by the law that they uphold.
He said attacks against police officers must be dealt with seriously. If left unchecked, such incidents could undermine public confidence in police officers as authority figures, he added.
Sooraj could have been jailed for up to one year and fined up to $5,000.
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