Norwegian man fined S$2,000 after retrial in cabby assault case
Reuters file photo
SINGAPORE — A Norwegian man, who was initially given a 10-week jail term for choking a taxi driver at Boat Quay, was today (Feb 16) fined S$2,000 for causing hurt to the driver, following a retrial of his case based on new information from two eyewitnesses.
Delivering her grounds of decision, District Judge Hamidah Ibrahim found Arne Corneliussen, 51, guilty of voluntarily causing hurt to taxi driver Chan Chuan Heng by wrapping his arm around the man’s neck on Sept 22, 2014 at the intersection of Circular Road and North Canal Road. The incident happened around 1am.
While four eyewitnesses varied in their recounts of what they observed, Ms Hamidah said the “un-mistakable thread” of their evidence was that eventually, Chan fell to the ground and Corneliussen went on top of him.
The eyewitness nearest to the pair also saw that Corneliussen had his arm around Chan’s neck, while another two eyewitnesses described him holding or grabbing Chan’s neck.
Corneliussen, a Singaporean permanent resident, conceded as well that these witnesses have no reason to lie against him, she added.
Ms Hamidah referred to objective evidence from the video footage captured by the cameras in Chan’s taxi, which proved that Corneliussen had chased Chan thrice.
The district judge had “no hesitation” in rejecting Corneliussen’s defence of private arrest, that he intended to capture and detain Chan who was running away after assaulting him.
Noting that he was unable to recall any details of the incident, Ms Hamidah said he was in no position to give evidence that such was his intention, when he chased after Chan thrice, pinned him to the ground, wrapped his arms around his neck and caused Chan to scream in pain. He also did it with such force that three men found it difficult to pull him away.
There were other options for him if all he wanted was Chan’s particulars, Ms Hamidah said, adding that he could have recorded the taxi’s licence plate number or called for the police.
Previously, Corneliussen — who had earlier pleaded guilty to assaulting the taxi driver — said he did so based on witnesses’ accounts because he was too drunk to remember what had happened. He also testified earlier that he did not remember the events after his argument with Chan and did not recall chasing him.
He was convicted and sentenced to 10 weeks’ jail in April last year for choking Chan. He also compensated the taxi driver S$30,000, and lost his job as a director at logistics and courier company DHL
Corneliussen already served six weeks of his sentence before the case was reopened when two eyewitnesses stepped forward to say he was not the aggressor in the incident after reading news reports of the case.
Chan was later charged with lying to a public officer and for punching Corneliussen. His case is still before the courts.
For voluntarily causing hurt, Corneliussen could have been jailed up to two years or fined up to S$5,000 or both.
