A drunk iron ore futures broker twice pushed a taxi driver who had asked for the fare to be paid and assaulted another three cabbies who later intervened.
All this took place in a 45-minute stretch in the early hours of April 26 last year after Australian Benjamin Luke Taylor refused to pay the fare and walked some 2km along Bras Basah Road, Middle Road and Beach Road.
District Judge Luke Tan yesterday sentenced Taylor, 34, to six weeks' jail after he admitted to two counts of causing hurt to taxi driver Steven Ong Han Boon, 54, and fellow cabby Lim Poh Heng, 46, who had intervened along Beach Road.
Four other charges, including one under the Liquor Control Act, were considered in sentencing Taylor who turned up for his court appearance in a suit.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Claire Poh told the court that Taylor had arrived in Singapore two days before the incident on a business trip.
On April 26, he flagged down Mr Ong's taxi near 313@Somerset in Orchard Road at about 4.50am, after having earlier consumed five pints of beer.
Mr Ong stopped along Bras Basah Road, outside the Singapore Art Museum, when Taylor did not say where he wanted to go despite being asked repeatedly. The cabby then asked for the fare but Taylor left without paying.
Mr Ong followed him for some distance, and continued to ask for the fare. Three other cabbies who realised what was happening joined in, at different times.
As each one approached, Taylor threw punches at them. He hit two of them, including Mr Lim, and caused one driver to injure his ankle when avoiding the punch.
Taylor also pushed Mr Ong who fell, causing scratches on his legs.
The Australian was eventually arrested by the police in Beach Road at about 5.40am. A blood sample was later taken from him and found to be almost 11/2 times the blood/alcohol legal limit. Taylor's lawyer Gino Hardial Singh said his client's offences were one-off and completely out of character.
Counsel sought a fine or a community-based sentence and said his client's employers have plans to relocate him to Singapore after the birth of his firstborn in April. A jail sentence would throw his young family into a state of disarray, resulting in dire consequences, he said.
He added that his client had paid compensation of $394.
Taylor could have been jailed for up to two years and/or fined up to $5,000 on each charge.
