SINGAPORE — A 42-year-old man found guilty of choking an auxiliary police officer with the National Environment Agency (NEA) lost an appeal against his conviction and 16-week jail sentence on Friday (April 3).

In 2017, Kappagantula Srikanth, a Singapore permanent resident, threw a cigarette butt into a roadside drain along Syed Alwi Road in Jalan Besar.

Losing his cool after the officer Kenny Chee caught him for littering, Srikanth pushed Mr Chee on the chest before choking him by the neck.

He was convicted in September last year of causing hurt to Mr Chee and using criminal force on him.

In the High Court on Friday, Srikanth’s lawyer Vinit Chhabra repeated a similar defence — that Mr Chee had attacked his client first.

Srikanth had claimed during his trial last year that their height difference meant he could not have choked Mr Chee.

High Court judge Chan Seng Onn upheld the conviction after an hour-long hearing on Friday.

Mr Chhabra then pleaded for a fine or one-week jail term on “sympathetic” grounds, saying Srikanth was a first-time offender and the breadwinner of his family of four.

But in dismissing the appeal, Justice Chan asked how he could be sympathetic to Srikanth, given that he had put the officer in a chokehold.

The judge also rejected Srikanth’s request to start serving his sentence later, so that he could give notice to his employer. His occupation was not revealed in court. 

For causing hurt to deter a public servant from carrying out his duty, Srikanth could have been jailed up to seven years, fined or caned, or given any combination of the three.

For using criminal force to deter a public servant from doing his duty, he could have been jailed up to four years, fined, or both.

ABOUT THE CASE

The incident happened on March 31, 2017, when Mr Chee was on duty along Syed Alwi Road. Two other NEA officers were around.

During the trial last year, Mr Chee gave evidence that he saw Srikanth throwing the cigarette butt into the drain outside a restaurant. 

Mr Chee then identified himself as an NEA officer, told Srikanth he had committed a littering offence, and asked for his details.

Srikanth told him he wanted to get his bag from the restaurant. While he was inside, Mr Chee helped his colleague with another offender.

He noticed Srikanth coming back out and told him repeatedly to stop. 

When that failed, Mr Chee stood in front of him and put his hand out as a signal to stop.

Srikanth, however, continued walking and hit Mr Chee’s palm. He warned the officer not to touch him or he would “lose his cool”, before pushing Mr Chee thrice on the chest with both hands.

Mr Chee testified that Srikanth tried to walk away again, but Mr Chee grabbed him by the wrist and said he would call the police.

Srikanth tried to forcibly loosen Mr Chee’s grip, giving the officer a cut on his wrist.

After Mr Chee let him go, he sat on a chair and said he would wait for the police to arrive, but tried to move off again before Mr Chee had a chance to call the authorities. 

Mr Chee stood in front of Srikanth once more to prevent him from leaving. It was then that Srikanth choked the officer by the neck with his right hand, Mr Chee had told the court.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Daphne Lim added: “The victim further testified that the accused had tightened his grip while choking him and pushed his Adam’s apple, causing him to feel pain and to be unable to breathe.

“The victim explained that his Adam’s apple felt numb and 'stuck' when he tried to swallow his saliva.”

The other two officers testified in court that they also saw this happening, with one saying that Srikanth appeared angry.