SINGAPORE — A man who went for a Covid-19 swab test at the F1 Pit Building, then ran over a traffic marshal’s foot while on his motorcycle, was fined S$3,000 on Tuesday (Jan 26).

Sivakumar Sengal Rajan, 51, pleaded guilty to one charge each of voluntarily causing hurt by a rash act to Mr Mohammad Yusoff Ismail, 54, and using abusive words towards him.

Another similar charge of harassment was taken into consideration for sentencing.

The incident happened on Nov 8 last year. Sivakumar, a Singaporean who works as a security guard, went to the building along Raffles Boulevard to get a swab test that morning.

Court documents did not state why he needed one.

When he was done about an hour later, he walked towards his motorcycle and noticed there were traffic cones and tape cordoning off the area in front of it. This meant that he had to reverse and make a minor detour in order to exit the car park, rather than simply ride forward.

When Mr Yusoff told him he had to make the detour, he asked Mr Yusoff to remove the cones and tape but the other man refused.

Unhappy over this inconvenience, Sivakumar began inching his motorcycle forward and knocked over the cones.

He then ran his motorcycle over Mr Yusoff’s left foot and “brushed (his) shin”, Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Bjorn Tan told the court. He also scolded him a vulgarity in Malay.

The victim did not seek medical attention and his foot was not injured, but he suffered a minor injury on his shin.

Sivakumar also uttered a vulgar phrase to another traffic marshal as he was trying to leave the car park. The marshal had directed him to the appropriate exit that was “very far away” and this made Sivakumar unhappy, DPP Tan said.

Sivakumar said in mitigation that he had been stressed that day and was late for work. “I’m very, very sorry and remorseful in committing this offence… I had to go for a swab test in a hurry and lost my cool, without realising the consequences of what I did.”

He asked to pay the fine in instalments, saying he was the sole breadwinner of his family, including three young children.

For causing hurt by a rash act, he could have been fined up to S$5,000 or jailed up to a year, or both.

For harassment, he could have been fined up to S$5,000 or jailed up to six months, or both.