Man jailed for kicking police officer in head, spitting at another while drunk at Changi Airport

SINGAPORE — A 26-year-old man was sentenced to four months’ jail on Friday (May 8) for assaulting four policemen in March while drunk at the departure transit hall of Changi Airport Terminal 2.

Shevtsov Maxim, a national of the central Asian country of Kazakhstan, pleaded guilty to two charges of causing hurt and using criminal force on a public servant.

Another four similar charges, including one under the Liquor Control Act, were taken into consideration for sentencing.

He had been drinking due to “stress” while transiting through Singapore on March 21 on the way home from Bali, where he had been holidaying with his fiancée, his lawyer told the court. He has been in remand since his arrest that day.

The court heard that Staff Sergeant Mohd Irwan Haron spotted Maxim at the counter just outside a restaurant in the departure transit hall of Terminal 2.

Two other police officers were already talking to him while he was behaving in a rowdy manner towards the restaurant cashier.

When Staff Sergeant Irwan told him to calm down and be seated, Maxim ignored him and continued to try to order two bottles of beer from the cashier.

Staff Sergeant Irwan then put his hand on Maxim’s shoulder to get his attention, before Maxim suddenly turned and swung his hand aggressively towards the policeman, hitting him on the face.

The pair ended up scuffling and the other police officers stepped in to arrest Maxim. However, he continued to struggle violently, kicking another policeman on his face.

Court documents showed that he also punched one of them on the cheek.

“Necessary force was used to subdue the accused by the police officers present jointly, as the accused was of large size and had continued to behave violently,” Deputy Public Prosecutor Benedict Teong told the court.

After Maxim was arrested, he was escorted to the Terminal 2 South Bus Station in a wheelchair while handcuffed. He was to be taken to Changi General Hospital (CGH) for a checkup before being taken to the police lock-up facility.

On the way to the bus station, he continued to struggle aggressively, kicking two of the officers. He also spat on Staff Sergeant Irwan’s face.

Staff Sergeant Irwan sought medical attention at CGH later that day.

In mitigation, Maxim’s lawyer Chenthil Kumarasingam from Oon & Bazul said that the timing of his client’s flight had been abruptly changed.

For reasons that were not fully explained in court, that meant that he travelled alone to Singapore and met his fiancée here, as she had taken a separate flight from Denpasar. They were then intending to head back to Kazakhstan together.

Maxim began drinking whisky in Denpasar, Bali and continued drinking at the airport here, Mr Chenthil added.

“He says he can’t recall what happened… we aren’t saying he didn’t do the offences or wasn’t responsible for them. But this is not the case of an individual who has antecedents or is generally violent.

“Once he came to and recovered himself, he has… not been troublesome or difficult in any way. He has stayed in prison partly because he wanted to finish with this issue and go back to Kazakhstan. He does not intend to come back to Singapore,” the lawyer said.

For causing hurt to deter a public servant from his duty, Maxim could have been jailed up to seven years, fined, caned, or any combination of the three.

For using criminal force on a public servant, he could have been jailed up to four years, fined, or both.