SINGAPORE - A Briton who was barred from entering Singapore at Changi Airport punched an auxiliary police officer while being escorted to a room.

Alan James Nairn, 54, a sales and marketing executive who works in Jakarta, Indonesia, was jailed for six weeks on Friday after pleading guilty. The sentence was backdated to Aug 1 when he first appeared in court.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Norman Teo said Certis Cisco officer Yogadevan Genasan, 34, went to help two colleagues escort Nairn to the "inadmissible persons" room as the Briton had refused to do so after several requests.

Mr Yogadevan held on to Nairn's left arm while his colleague held the right arm as they escorted Nairn out of the smoking room.

Along the way, Nairn complained of pain in his legs.

While waiting for the wheelchair to arrive, Mr Yogadevan's colleague released his grip on Nairn's right arm.

Nairn then started to struggle to break free from Mr Yogadevan, and used his right fist to punch him on the neck.

Lawyer N. M. Marican said in mitigation that Nairn had been working in Indonesia for a considerable period of time. He was issued with a visa in Indonesia and had been coming to Singapore regularly for many years, specifically to renew his visa.

He said Nairn, who had no business in Singapore, did not know that day why he was not allowed to land in Singapore. That was why he was a bit confused and his mind, a bit disturbed.

Nairn had earlier wanted to know why he was refused entry.

DPP Teo told District Judge Jasvender Kaur that the reason was the discretion of the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority, and not within the prosecution's purview.

Nairn could have been jailed for up to seven years and fined for causing hurt to a public servant in the discharge of his duty.