AT THE COURTS
26 weeks' jail for man who hit NEA officers
He entered food centre despite being unvaccinated, lied to officers during checks
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An unvaccinated man lied to a person performing gatekeeping duties at a food centre entrance by claiming he did not have his SafeEntry token and merely wanted to buy food to take away.
Odd-job worker Chua Soon Hean, 54, then entered Redhill Food Centre amid the Covid-19 outbreak and did not wear a mask when interacting with others.
National Environment Agency (NEA) officers later saw him sitting at a table with his girlfriend and checked his vaccination status. Chua was told to leave when they found out he was unvaccinated, but he punched two of them.
Yesterday, he was sentenced to 26 weeks' jail after he pleaded guilty to assaulting a public servant.
Chua also admitted that he had intentionally entered the food centre during a restricted period despite knowing he was unvaccinated.
Two other charges - one count each of assaulting a second public servant and failing to wear a mask at the centre - were considered during sentencing.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Heershan Kaur said: "This is the first-ever prosecution under (regulations relating to Covid-19) for entering a restricted place - being a hawker centre - while the accused person was unvaccinated."
Court documents did not state Chua's current vaccination status.
At about 8pm on Oct 23 last year, he went to the food centre with his girlfriend to meet his friends for a meal. After lying to the gatekeeping officer at the entrance, Chua went in to meet two friends.
He was not wearing a mask but put one on when he saw NEA officers walking towards them.
The officers told them not to intermingle and to sit in pairs instead. Chua and his girlfriend then sat at a nearby table.
He lied to the officers, claiming he did not have his mobile phone or SafeEntry token with him.
They realised he was not vaccinated after checking his NRIC.
When an officer, Mr Damian Lee, 51, asked Chua how he managed to enter the food centre, he lied that no one was at the entrance to check his vaccination status.
Unhappy about being told to leave, Chua assaulted Mr Lee and another NEA officer before his friends held him back.
A blood test found he was under the influence of alcohol at the time. For assaulting a public servant, Chua could have been jailed for up to seven years and fined or caned.
