Jail for man who threw his infant daughter at police while trying to flee

SINGAPORE: A man who went to a police station to lodge a report ended up throwing his baby at officers while trying to flee. 

The man was at the station with his wife and two children on Jan 18 last year to report a traffic accident. He was at the time wanted by the police for failing to report for a urine test.

When he suspected that the police realised he was wanted, he fled. In his attempt to escape, he threw his two-month-old daughter at the officers on his tail.

The 40-year-old man, who cannot be named due to gag orders protecting the identity of the victim, was sentenced to 17 months' jail on Monday (Jul 26).

He pleaded guilty to three charges of endangering the safety of a child, failing to present himself for a urine test while under a supervision order and voluntarily causing hurt to a person he was in an intimate relationship with.

A fourth charge was considered in sentencing.

The court heard that the man was under a drug supervision order for two years from Dec 1, 2018. He was required to report at a police station for urine tests every Monday and Thursday. 

However, he did not show up on Jul 22, 2019, and did not have a valid reason for his absence.

At about 4pm on Jan 18, 2020, the man went to Hong Kah North Neighbourhood Police Post with his wife and children.

The man told the officer there that he wanted to lodge a traffic accident report involving his company van and handed over his NRIC and driving licence.

The officer checked his particulars and the system showed that the man was wanted for failing to report for a urine test under the Central Narcotics Bureau. A police gazette had been issued against him.

The officer discreetly called for backup and texted his duty team leader that there was a wanted man at the police post. He then tried to act as if there was nothing out of the ordinary and continued helping the man lodge his accident report.

However, the offender sensed something was amiss after watching the officer use his phone and observing his body language. When his wife said she needed to use the toilet, the officer told her a colleague would escort her there, further arousing the man's suspicions.

Two other officers arrived at the police post soon after, and one of them escorted the offender's wife to the toilet.

Suddenly, the man stood up with his two-month-old daughter in his arms. He claimed his child needed fresh air and opened the door, wanting to flee.

One of the officers stopped him, but the man fled with his daughter in his arms. The police officers chased after him and did not use any force on him as they feared for the baby's safety.

They trailed the offender to the void deck of Block 370 Bukit Batok Street 31, where the man swung his infant daughter towards one of the officers and tossed her to him.

The officer managed to catch the baby and passed her to his colleague before chasing after the offender, who was eventually nabbed.

The baby did not suffer any injuries.

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST HIS WIFE

About a year later on Jan 22, 2021, the offender was drinking alcohol at home and entered his bedroom past midnight. When his wife asked him to drink in the living room as she and the children were sleeping, the man refused and began arguing with her.

The intoxicated man slapped his wife four to six times, punched her head twice and pushed her cheek so that her head hit the metal frame of a sofa. The assault occurred in front of their children.

The woman tried to call the police but was struggling with her husband, who attempted to take her phone away. The phone operator heard only the commotion in the background, and police officers were dispatched to the scene.

The prosecutor sought at least 15 months' jail for two of the offences and a "short" jail term for the third, saying the man was intoxicated in the last incident and had committed domestic violence when unprovoked.

The man, who had no lawyer and was in remand, said in mitigation that he had learned his lesson and would not do it again.

He said his wife and children called him over the phone and he "yearned" to hold his child.

His sentence was backdated to Mar 30, 2021, when he was first remanded.