SINGAPORE — A man who had pleaded guilty to assaulting a taxi driver returned to court for a re-trial today (Dec 28), after two eyewitnesses stepped forward to say he was not the aggressor in the incident.

Arne Corneliussen, 51, had been sentenced to 10 weeks’ jail after admitting to choking taxi driver Chan Chuan Heng at Boat Quay at around 1am on Sept 22 last year.

He has served six weeks of his sentence. He is now being tried for choking Chan, but will be given a discharge amounting to an acquittal for the second charge of slapping the driver, which had been taken into consideration for sentencing previously.

Meanwhile, the court heard that Chan, 47, has since been charged with providing false information to the police and voluntarily causing hurt to Corneliussen, who is Norwegian and a Singapore permanent resident.

Today, the court heard that Mr Mohamed Ayub Shaik Dawood and Mr Roslan Zainal approached Corneliussen’s lawyers after reading about the case in the news.

“I thought it’s not right because the taxi driver assaulted the Caucasian man and the Caucasian man was charged. It’s not fair. This is not justice,” said Mr Ayub, 55, who works as a valet at Fullerton Hotel.

He added that he was waiting for a taxi around Circular Road with Mr Roslan after knocking off that day when he saw Chan standing by the front passenger door of his taxi.

Mr Ayub testified that five minutes later, Corneliussen spoke to Chan before asking in a raised voice: “Why so expensive? You cheat me?”

In response, Chan hurled vulgarities at Corneliussen and then punched the left side of his face, causing him to squat in a dazed manner, said Mr Ayub.

Mr Roslan, 45, a personal driver, said he saw Corneliussen covering his face with both hands before standing up a few seconds later to ask Chan why he had hit him.

The witness said Chan ignored Corneliussen and returned to the driver’s seat, prompting the passenger to open the rear door of the taxi, and shout: “Why do you want to run?”

Chan then started running, with Corneliussen giving chase.

Mr Roslan said Chan tripped thrice, with Corneliussen pinning the driver down after the third fall, wrapping his arms around Chan’s neck. Shortly after, three bystanders pulled the men apart.

Two of the bystanders also took the stand today.

Taxi driver Choithramani Chandru Bhaqwandas, 46, testified that he tried to lift Corneliussen off Chan, but failed as he was “choking very tight, very strong”. Chan was “screaming” in pain, he added.

The other bystander who intervened was senior operations supervisor Muhd Fairuz Jumahat, 29.

“I saw that he was struggling and choking. He was making some noises in pain,” he testified, adding that Corneliussen reeked of alcohol and was swearing, while some among the crowd that had gathered cursed at the Caucasian.

The two-day trial continues tomorrow, where Corneliussen is expected to take the stand. Chan will return to court on Jan 19.