SINGAPORE — A woman whose trouble with the law began when she disrupted the trial of an anti-masker has been sentenced to eight weeks' jail and a S$4,200 fine after she spat at two police officers and took various measures to evade prosecution over her court-room outbursts.

Lee Hui Yin, 53, continued to protest her innocence on Tuesday (July 25) even after she was convicted on July 18 of failing to attend court and report to a police station over the disruption of the court case, and of the spitting charges.

Lee, now known as Tarchandi Tan after changing her name last year, again caused disruptive scenes in court on Tuesday as she was rebuked by District Judge Kow Keng Siong for bad language and tried to negotiate her sentence.

Court proceedings were delayed for about 30 minutes as the woman, who was representing herself, tried to decide how to deal with two further charges which had previously been stood down during her trial.

The two charges pertain to her behaviour at the trial of the anti-masker Briton Benjamin Glynn that the prosecution asked on Tuesday to be taken into consideration for her sentencing.

District Judge Kow told Tan that it was important for her to fully understand what was happening if she wished to admit to the two charges and have them taken into consideration during sentencing.

To this, Tan asked: "For a shorter sentence, it is better I admit right?"

The judge declined to answer the question and told her that it was not for him to decide, and instead granted her 15 minutes to consult with her partner, who was seated in the public gallery.

When the proceedings resumed, Tan continue to maintain her innocence over the two charges and was sentenced for the five charges for which she had been convicted.

Tan claims to be a "sovereign" individual and that the laws and courts do not have jurisdiction over her conduct.

WHAT HAPPENED

In August last year, police officers tried various ways to send Tan a notice for her to head to the police station over her disruption of the trial of anti-masker Glynn on Aug 18, 2021.

Attending court that day, she had called out that it was a "ridiculous kangaroo court" when asked to leave the courtroom to adjust her mask.

In pursuing Tan over the matter, the police had tried hand delivering a notice to her, sending the notice by registered mail and emailing a scanned copy to Tan.

However, instead of acknowledging the notices, Tan returned them to the police with various markings on them which included a sentence that read, "please do not throw papers into my private property".

Tan was eventually issued with a warrant of arrest when she failed to obey the third notice that was sent to her.

Four police officers were dispatched to raid her flat, where Tan was arrested.

After she was handcuffed, Tan refused to stand up and was instead lifted up by two female officers who took her to the police car.

During the trip to the Central Police Divisional headquarters, Tan continued to struggle and started to kick the back of the driver's seat.

At one point, Tan made a sound of gathering her saliva and turned to her left to spit at a female officer before repeating the same action to a male officer seated on her right. The spittle landed on one officer's cheek and hair, and on the other officer's face.

Tan was served with an order to attend court on Sept 15 but she did not turn up.

LACK OF REMORSE

During submissions for a more lenient sentence, Tan told the court that she had been very clear that she was innocent of all charges, and the judge could sentence her as he "deems fit". 

She said: "God will have the final judgement and when God is done with the final judgement, they are going to have no hair left!"

In response, Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Hidayat Amir argued that Tan's submissions only served to highlight the profound degree of her lack of remorse as she has said nothing to explain her behaviour.

After the sentence was passed, Tan was told that the two remaining charges over her conduct at the trial of Glynn would be dealt with separately.

Appearing to be upset, Tan asked the judge: "How about I admit to the two charges so I don't have to go through this bulls**t?"

District Judge Kow reminded Tan to mind her language as she was still in court and told her that she will be notified about the remaining two charges that will be set for a hearing at a later date.

For each charge of assaulting a police officer, Tan could have been jailed up to four years or fined, or both.

For each charge of failing to obey orders from a public servant, Tan could have been jailed for up to one month or fined up to S$1,500, or both.