52-year-old jailed for spitting in hotel lobby and shouting ‘corona, corona’

SINGAPORE — Upset after a waitress told him that a restaurant at the Crowne Plaza hotel in Changi Airport was closed, Jasvinder Singh Mehar Singh smashed a plate to the ground last month.

He later spat on the floor of the hotel lobby and shouted “corona, corona”, referring to the novel coronavirus that causes Covid-19.

On Thursday (April 2), the 52-year-old Singaporean was sentenced to two months behind bars, with an extra 55 days’ jail for breaching a remission order.

Under a remission order, inmates who display good conduct are released from jail after serving two-thirds of their sentence, on the condition that they do not reoffend during that period. 

Deputy Public Prosecutor Eugene Sng told the court that Singh had previous convictions dating back to 2014. Most recently, he served six months and five weeks in jail for harassment and uttering words to wound religious feelings.

He pleaded guilty on Thursday to causing annoyance to the public and committing a rash act that endangered the safety of the waitress.

WHAT HAPPENED

The court heard that on March 3, Singh went to the Azur restaurant at the hotel and helped himself to food at the buffet line without telling any of the staff members.

When the waitress told him that the restaurant was closed, he smashed the plate he was holding to the ground. It shattered near the waitress.

He then approached the waitress, causing her to take a few steps back.

He muttered: “Why other guests can eat and I cannot?” Later, he spat on the floor and left the restaurant.

Hearing the commotion, the restaurant’s assistant manager asked the hotel manager for help.

The pair followed Singh, spotted him in the arrival hall of Changi Airport Terminal 3, and guided him back to the hotel lobby.

There, the hotel manager asked Singh to sit down before calling the security manager.

Instead, Singh stood up and walked towards the restaurant, saying he wanted to break more plates. The manager blocked his path and made him sit on a sofa.

Singh then put his hands behind his head, placed his feet on the table in front of the sofa, and kicked a plastic sign on the table. He went on to spit and shout the offending words “corona, corona”.

For committing a rash act, he could have been jailed up to six months, fined up to S$2,500, or both.

For his second offence of public nuisance, he could have been jailed up to three months, fined up to S$2,000, or both.