Jail for man, 72, who attacked bus driver, then burned police officer with cigarette after absconding from court

SINGAPORE — After refusing to wear his mask properly on a bus at the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, Ahmad Robinson slapped and punched a bus driver who had locked the bus doors.

Ahmad later threatened to kill two police officers, and ended up burning one of them with a lit cigarette. 

On Monday (Nov 27), the 72-year-old was sentenced to a total of nine years and eight months' jail after pleading to voluntarily causing grievous hurt to the 62-year-old driver, criminal intimidation, voluntarily causing hurt to deter a public servant from his duty, using criminal force on a public servant and drug consumption. 

His sentence includes a seven-year jail term for taking morphine. This is the minimum punishment for a repeat offender. Ahmad had been convicted before of the consumption of morphine in 2002.

Seven other charges, including that of failing to attend court without a reasonable excuse and contravening Covid-19 regulations, were taken into consideration for sentencing. 

ATTACKING A BUS DRIVER 

In November 2021, Ahmad and another man Aziz Khan Sher Khan boarded bus service number 2 from a bus stop at Selarang Halfway House while intoxicated. Court papers did not state what was their relationship.

The bus driver, Mr Hew Kim Keong, told the pair to wear their masks properly, but they did not do so and continued to drink from the cans of beers they were holding. 

At that time, mask-wearing on public transport was mandated by law to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus. 

After reporting the incident to transport operator Go-Ahead Singapore’s control room, Mr Hew was advised to stop the bus and lock the doors because a police report had been made. 

When Ahmad and Aziz realised that the bus had stopped, they got angry and confronted Mr Hew, hurling vulgarities at him while shouting at him to open the door. 

Ahmad then slapped, punched and hit Mr Hew's face and head multiple times. He also struck the driver’s nose and kicked the left side of the driver’s head and body four to five times before leaving the driver’s cabin area. 

He soon returned to grab Mr Hew by the neck and kicked his torso. During the assault, one of the buttons in the driver’s cabin was accidentally pressed, thereby opening the bus doors to allow Ahmad and Aziz to flee.

Mr Hew was taken conscious to Changi General Hospital and was found to have a chest contusion on his left side and a nasal bone fracture. 

In December 2021, Aziz was sentenced to 10 months’ in jail for voluntarily causing grievous hurt. 

THREATENING, BURNING POLICE OFFICERS

Court documents said that Ahmad was granted bail on Nov 3 in 2021, though it was unclear for which offence.

He failed to turn up in court as required on Dec 1 that year, and this was the subject of the absconding charge that was taken into consideration for sentencing.

On Feb 9 last year, his son made a police report saying that his wife had told him that Ahmad was at his home. 

Two police officers, Station Inspector Nurul Huda Hashim and Sergeant Muhamad Nabil Jabrullah Mohamad Imran, who were dispatched to arrest Ahmad, found him putting things into a cabinet at his son's home. 

As they were trying to arrest him, Ahmad took a knife from the cabinet and swung it at the two officers, saying in Malay, “I will kill you, I will stab your eyes, I will cut your face”. 

While the two police officers were trying to subdue him, Ahmad used the lit cigarette in his mouth to burn Station Inspector Nurul on her forearm, where she sustained a 1cm burn. 

Ahmad then hooked Sergeant Nabil's neck with his arm that was holding the knife and threatened to kill him. 

On Monday, Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Yvonne Poon sought a jail sentence of between 10 years and seven months and 11 years and eight months.

This already included a sentence reduction of one year on account of Ahmad having kidney cancer, DPP Poon said. 

Ahmad's lawyer raised his medical condition as a possible mitigating factor previously. 

The prosecution had obtained three medical reports from the National Cancer Centre Singapore that detailed his clear cell renal carcinoma diagnosis in 2016, and the progression of his cancer in April this year. 

Ms Poon argued that although Ahmad’s medical condition could make a jail term more onerous on him, judicial mercy was reserved for truly exceptional cases and would not be applicable in this case. 

Considering his medical condition alongside the weight of his offences against public servants and a public transport worker, DPP Poon said that a one-year sentence reduction would be appropriate. 

Anyone convicted of voluntarily causing grievous hurt can be jailed for up to 10 years or fined or caned.

For criminal intimidation, Ahmad could have been jailed for up to two years, or fined. 

As a repeat offender for consuming a specified drug, he could have been jailed for up to 13 years. 

The penalty for voluntarily causing hurt to a public servant in the discharge of his duty is a jail term of up to seven years or a fine or caning. 

Anyone who assault or use criminal force on a public servant to deter him from discharging his duty can be jailed for up to four years or fined.