Man jailed for slapping parking warden on his helmet, hurling vulgarities

SINGAPORE — When he was asked to move his van a second time at the JCube shopping mall, Muhammad Abdul Raafiq Mohd Fazil saw red and slapped the parking warden on his helmet.

He also hurled vulgarities at the other man such as: “Before I punch your face, you f*** off from here” and “You take picture, I punch your face ah. You better f*** off from here.”

For his actions, the 30-year-old was sentenced to four weeks’ jail on Monday (Oct 21). He pleaded guilty to one charge of causing hurt to deter a public servant from his duty, with another charge of verbally abusing a public servant taken into consideration for sentencing.

The court heard that the incident happened on Nov 15 last year.

The parking warden, who was employed by security solutions provider Certis Cisco, was performing his enforcement duties at the unloading and unloading area of the shopping mall in Jurong East.

He asked Abdul Raafiq, who was driving a silver van and waiting along the double yellow lines before the loading bay, to move his vehicle.

Abdul Raafiq complied and drove to the entrance of the loading bay. The warden then approached him and advised him to shift his vehicle again.

At this point, Abdul Raafiq alighted and slapped the warden on his helmet, causing the visor to break off and fall to the ground.

Because of that, the warden suffered a bruise on his face and a superficial abrasion on his lower lip. He was given three days of medical leave.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Goh Yong Ngee told the court that Abdul Raafiq was fined S$2,500 and given an 18-month driving ban in 2011 for drink-driving.

In mitigation, his lawyer Ashvin Hariharan said that he was a “hardworking father of four who has committed an offence on impulse, in a moment of folly”.

He had also slapped the warden “without any sort of premeditation” and had co-operated with the authorities, Mr Hariharan added.

For causing hurt to a public servant, Abdul Raafiq could have been jailed for up to seven years, fined, caned or any combination of the three.