SINGAPORE — A 45-year-old man found guilty of two charges of drunkenly assaulting a police officer, who had tried to rouse him after he dozed off in a taxi, is appealing against his conviction.

Last year, District Judge Ng Cheng Thiam rejected a psychiatrist’s findings that Adrian Fun Weng Choon’s actions could have stemmed from an “involuntary muscle memory action”.

He then sentenced Fun to three months’ jail last July after his conviction last May.

Fun has been out on bail pending his appeal.

In his grounds of decision released earlier this week, District Judge Ng said that Fun would have known his actions would cause hurt to the victim, as she and her colleague had identified themselves as police officers several times at the scene.

Fun had claimed trial over the incident that took place in the wee hours of Sept 4, 2016.

His defence was that he was so drunk and exhausted that he could not have known that he injured the victim. He had been drinking at a karaoke lounge with a business friend earlier.

Prosecutors said that the two police officers responded to a call for help at a Loyang condominium that morning. A taxi driver had called to report that his passenger was drunk and could not wake up. A condominium security guard failed to rouse him, too.

The officers later found Fun lying asleep on the back seat. 

When one of them tried to wake him by tapping his face and calling out, he reacted by punching her once on her nose and upper lip, the prosecution said. This was captured on her body-worn camera.

He was then taken out of the taxi and both officers held onto each of his arms. When the policewoman let go of him briefly, he punched her in the face again.

Fun was then pinned down and arrested. 

The policewoman, who suffered a small abrasion over her lip and mild bruising over her nose, sought medical treatment at Changi General Hospital.

During the trial, Fun's lawyer R Thrumurgan alleged that the officers “used a variety of unusual methods” such as lifting up his eyelids and shining light into his eyes, which caused Fun to lash out in the first instance.

Mr Thrumurgan also argued that Fun did not punch the policewoman a second time as her injuries did not reflect a second punch, for example.

Psychiatrist Munidasa Winslow produced a report on Fun, where he said that the man’s state of intoxication would have “significantly altered” his cognition and perception at the time. Because of that, he said that Fun was unlikely to be able to tell that the victim was a public servant.

Given that Fun had regularly trained in martial arts, Dr Winslow said that Fun could have reacted involuntarily to the victim slapping him to wake him up.

The psychiatrist also testified that Fun had a higher alcohol tolerance than most people and could regain consciousness faster after being woken up.

However, District Judge Ng rejected the notion that Fun’s intoxication would have significantly diminished his comprehension of what was happening.

Referring to the body-worn camera footage, he noted that Fun could converse in complete sentences in various languages by the time he was arrested, and could speak full sentences “mere seconds” after the second punch.

The judge said: “I was unable to reconcile the findings of Dr Winslow that the punches were the likely result of an involuntary muscle memory action with the objective facts presented. Dr Winslow had conceded that he had insufficient information to make such a finding.”

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