Man jailed for hurling vulgarities & shoving mask into MOH officer's face during CB period

The incident arose after he was spotted to be without a mask.

Matthias Ang | July 13, 2020, 09:44 PM

A 30-year-old food delivery man, Muhammad Adimin Kemton, has been jailed for four weeks after pleading guilty to shoving a mask into the face of an enforcement officer from the Ministry of Health (MOH), and hurling vulgarities at said officer and a safe-distancing ambassador, CNA reported.

Three other charges were also taken into consideration, including throwing a used ice-cream popsicle stick repeatedly at a safe-distancing ambassador, and failing to wear a mask.

Called out by officers for not wearing a mask

According to court documents seen by Mothership, the incident happened during the Circuit Breaker period on April 26, at a shop near Block 18 along Upper Boon Keng Road.

At that time, the enforcement officer from MOH and a safe-distancing ambassador saw Adimin, who was with a man and a woman, without a mask.

When both of them asked Adimin why he did not have one, he replied that he did not have one and was buying only a few items before returning home.

In addition, he also stated that he would wear his friend's mask, to which the enforcement officer replied that this meant his friend would have no mask to wear.

Began to verbally abuse officers

Angered by the officer's response, Adimin began verbally abusing the two officers with vulgarities, before storming off to a nearby store to buy disposable masks.

He then returned with the masks, whereupon he continued shouting a mix of English and Hokkien vulgarities, shoved one of the masks into the face of the enforcement officer, charged at the safe distancing ambassador and threw a used ice-cream stick at her.

Adimin then picked up the stick after it had hit the ambassador on her left arm and threw it at her again, an act which the prosecution noted was "very unhygienic."

Subsequently, he threw the remaining masks at the MOH officer and left with his friends to return home, continuously shouting vulgarities while walking away.

Accused demonstrated "clear contempt"

In its sentencing submissions, the prosecution noted that Adimin had demonstrated "clear contempt" for the two officers and their authority, and noted that his assaults were "continuous and repeated."

The prosecution also highlighted that the disputed had actually ended by the time Adimin bought the masks as neither of the two officers continued to engage him further.

Today highlighted that during his mitigation plea, Adimin stated, via an interpreter, that he was sometimes easily agitated on simple matters.

He also added that his children were in foster care, that he had many problems and was unable to focus.

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

As for using abusive words on a public servant, he could have been imprisoned for up to 12 months, fined up to S$5,000, or been subjected to both.

Top photo by Matthias Ang