A man convicted of spitting at two women at Woodlands bus interchange last October was jailed for five weeks and fined $800 on Friday.
Juraimi Kamaludin, 48, a cleaner, had been found guilty after a three-day trial of being a public nuisance; spitting at Ms Teoh Lay Peng, 41, and forcefully pushing her out of the bus; spitting at secretary Lee Kuan Eng, 34, a total of six times within 10 minutes.
In passing sentence, District Judge Lim Keng Yeow said the incident last Oct 22 had come about after Juraimi felt he had been unjustly accused, and he gave that considerable weight. "Even though that is so, your response was clearly excessive. Your actions were shocking. Your conduct was wholly unjustifiable," he said.
Juraimi could have been jailed for up three months and/or fined up to $1,500 for each of the spitting charge.
The judge noted Juraimi's previous records were mainly for theft and drug-related offences and that he had been free of trouble since his release in October 2011 until the interchange incident.
In a touching exchange, the judge said he hoped Juraimi would never have to go to prison again, at least for the next two-and-a-half to three years . Juraimi promised he would change.
Judge Lim said he believed him, and hoped that after his release, he would have a normal life, work and stay out of trouble.
He told Juraimi he was confident that Juraimi would do that. And when Juraimi said it would not be just for the next few years but "forever'', Judge Lim said he hoped so. Juraimi said he wants to get married and settle down after this.
The judge also told Juraimi to focus on the first three years, and said he looked forward to seeing him in three years, living a "normal, good productive life''. Juraimi was so moved that he broke down and cried in court. "I am speechless to hear this. No one has ever said that to me. I am very very happy and grateful,'' he said.
For the incident last October, Juraimi was given the fine for scolding and shouting at the commuters on SMRT 850. For spitting at Ms Teoh once on the face, he was jailed for a day. He was given a total of five weeks for the two counts of spitting at Ms Lee and the act of pushing Ms Teoh out of the front door of the bus, which endangered the personal safety of others.
