SINGAPORE, July 21 — A 53-year-old man, Wilson Loh, was sentenced today to five weeks’ imprisonment and fined S$1,500 (RM4,900) after he caused a scene on a public bus and used criminal force on the driver and a fellow passenger.
He pleaded guilty to one charge of public nuisance and two counts of using criminal force by tapping the bus driver’s face with his EZ-Link card and pushing the hand of a 75-year-old passenger who tried to calm him down, CNA reported.
The court heard that Loh had consumed eight bottles of beer at a coffee shop in Commonwealth from noon on March 18 before boarding bus service 195 around 6pm.
Loh failed to alight at his intended stop, and when the bus moved off, he accused the driver, 46-year-old Yin Xusheng, of not opening the door, despite the driver’s explanation that he had.
Loh then used his EZ-Link card to tap the driver’s face, an act the court described as criminal force done to cause annoyance without provocation.
He continued shouting and causing a disturbance on the bus until the next stop, where a fellow passenger approached him, only to have his hand pushed and phone knocked to the floor.
Loh was arrested at about 8.20pm following a police report and was found to have a long criminal history dating back to 1989, including convictions for disorderly behaviour, snatch theft, and voluntarily causing hurt.
During mitigation, Loh claimed he was triggered by being filmed after a Covid-19 vaccine, but the judge told him his drinking was to blame and urged him to control or stop drinking altogether.
