7 weeks' jail for drunk man who punched stranger in 'unprovoked' attack, kicked TTSH nurse

SINGAPORE — After drinking five pints of beer at a bar in the East Coast area, a drunk Adam William Fletcher came to blows with a friend who was with him, and then later punched a stranger for no reason.

But his rampage did not end there, a court heard. When he was taken to Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) that evening, Fletcher struggled violently and was verbally abusive towards medical personnel.

He ended up kicking a nurse on her upper chest.

Appearing in court on Wednesday (July 27), the British man, 40, was jailed for seven weeks after pleading guilty to two counts of voluntarily causing hurt.

District Judge Chay Yuen Fatt noted that Fletcher's first assault was unprovoked, and that his intoxication was an aggravating factor for sentencing purposes.

The court heard that Fletcher and another foreigner went drinking at a bar at 19 East Coast Road, a few blocks away from i12 Katong mall, on the evening of June 25 last year.

The pair then went to a back alley behind the bar to talk, but they began physically tussling and pushing each other. Fletcher’s friend lost his footing and fell.

A passer-by intervened and broke up the pair.

Fletcher then walked away from the alley around 10.30pm and headed towards the nearby Ean Kiam Place. He noticed a 57-year-old foreigner walking along East Coast Road to withdraw cash from an automated teller machine (ATM) near him.

As the other man approached, Fletcher swung his arm and punched him once on the head, causing him to fall. The man regained consciousness a few minutes later with the help of other passers-by.

Fletcher then left the scene but the assault was captured on video by another passer-by.

Police officers soon arrived and found Fletcher behaving in a drunken and disorderly manner somewhere else along Mountbatten Road.

The victim was taken to TTSH in an ambulance. He had suffered bleeding on his scalp and elbow, along with tenderness over the base of his back, court documents showed.

VICTIM FELT DISORIENTED, CONFUSED

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Tan Zhi Hao said that the victim was discharged against medical advice and did not immediately seek further treatment because his head injury left him “feeling disoriented and confused”.

He returned two days later for follow-up treatment and was diagnosed as having a concussion. He was also given three days of medical leave.

As a result of the attack, he was found to have developed a severe anxiety disorder and post-traumatic stress.

He attended five counselling sessions and incurred a total of S$3,804 in medical expenses. Fletcher compensated him with this sum in February this year.

When the victim sought further treatment a month after the incident, an X-ray revealed that his elbow was fractured and there was painful swelling around the elbow joint.

RAMPAGE CONTINUED IN HOSPITAL

As for Fletcher, he was taken to TTSH on the evening of the attack to treat the abrasions on his knees.

Medical personnel attended to him in the emergency department but he was intoxicated and combative, DPP Tan told the court.

Around 5am, a 40-year-old nurse was holding onto his leg so that a doctor could administer an intravenous drip, but he began kicking outwards and shouting vulgarities, telling her not to touch him.

He then kicked the nurse, making contact with her left upper chest and collarbone. She had to stop her work and step out of the emergency department due to the pain.

She was given three days of medical leave.

For voluntarily causing hurt, Fletcher could have been jailed for up to three years or fined up to S$5,000, or punished with both.