Briton in Singapore for son’s birth fined after getting drunk, hurling vulgarities at police

SINGAPORE — On the way home to the United Kingdom with his pregnant partner in February, Patraic Walsh-Kavanagh was on a two-day layover here when she suddenly went into preterm labour.

She was 24 weeks pregnant and gave birth to a boy who weighed just 0.86kg. The hospital then told them that the baby would not be fit enough to travel for another three months.

The episode of them being stranded in Singapore for several months, facing an estimated hospital bill of S$250,000, and their efforts to raise money for the fees made headlines here and in the UK, including in BBC News.

Now, Walsh-Kavanagh is back in the news — for the wrong reasons.

On Thursday (July 25), the 27-year-old Briton was fined S$10,800 in the State Courts for using vulgar words to verbally abuse police officers after he went drinking in May and was arrested for being drunk in public. 

He pleaded guilty to two charges of using abusive words towards a public servant, and one charge of causing annoyance while being drunk in a public place. Three other similar charges were taken into consideration for sentencing.

While District Judge Adam Nakhoda acknowledged that the premature birth of his child put Walsh-Kavanagh in a stressful situation, he added that “it does not in any way justify the conduct that occurred that night”.

“You have used, in my opinion, completely unacceptable language to police officers… I say again that it was absolutely deplorable, unrelenting, and occurred for a sustained period of time. Whatever level of intoxication you were in is in no way mitigating,” the judge told him.

ARRIVAL IN SINGAPORE

The court heard that the couple arrived in Singapore on Feb 17 this year on a social visit pass.

While waiting for a connecting flight back to the UK, Walsh-Kavanagh’s partner, identified as Ms Chloe Wilkinson in reports, went into labour.

Their son was born in Singapore General Hospital about a week later.

The couple previously told British media that the travel insurance they took out did not cover pregnancy.

Walsh-Kavanagh and his partner then began looking to raise about S$250,000 for the estimated hospital bill through a GoFundMe campaign.

On the online campaign page, it was stated that the couple’s son was discharged from hospital in a healthy state on May 27 — three days after Walsh-Kavanagh’s arrest.

The couple wrote in an update that they have managed to cover his medical bills, with donations from various crowdfunding platforms and charity events.

DRANK 5 PINTS OF BEER, JAGERBOMB

On May 15, Walsh-Kavanagh was given a one-month extension on his social visit pass.

The following week, he went to Robertson Quay. He drank five pints of Heineken beer at a restaurant, then had one glass of Jagerbomb at a bar.

Then at about 1am on May 24, he went to Uncabunca bar along Mohamed Sultan Road but was denied entry by the bar’s assistant manager as the place was closed.

Walsh-Kavanagh refused to leave, and then took the sales cash float near the counter.

The assistant manager called the police.

They arrested Walsh-Kavanagh for the offence of causing annoyance.

Then on the way to the police car, he shouted more than 20 vulgar phrases at the officers.

He continued cursing them when they were at the police station.

On Thursday, Deputy Public Prosecutor Claire Poh sought the maximum fine for the abusive language charges. Walsh-Kavanagh had persisted with the vulgarities for at least 20 minutes on each instance, she noted.

His lawyer Sunil Sudheesan pleaded for a lower fine, saying his client had behaved “totally out of character” and that there was “a sad history surrounding the offences”.

“He apologises to all the officers involved and the bar owner,” the lawyer added.

For using abusive words towards a public servant, Walsh-Kavanagh could have been jailed up to a year, fined up to S$5,000, or both.

For causing annoyance while being drunk in a public place, he could have been jailed up to six month, fined up to S$1,000, or both.