SINGAPORE — A 24-year-old man, who socialised with five colleagues after their restaurant closed for the day during the circuit breaker and drunkenly slammed his head on the boot of a police car, was fined S$4,800 on Monday (June 22).

Navarro Charles Josef Guimere, a Singapore permanent resident, pleaded guilty to two charges of causing annoyance while drunk in a public place under the Liquor Control (Supply and Consumption) Act and verbally abusing a public servant.

Two other charges of meeting others for a social purpose on April 19, which falls under the Covid-19 (Temporary Measures) (Control Regulations) 2020, and committing mischief were taken into consideration for sentencing.

The court heard that Navarro worked at the FOC Pim Pam restaurant along Orchard Road. 

At about 10pm that evening, the six employees decided to have a social gathering there after business hours.

They chatted and drank alcohol until about 11pm after which Navarro left with one of his colleagues. 

He then decided to lie on a public pathway near the restaurant to sleep, Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Timotheus Koh told the court. The police then received a call for help.

When police officers and paramedics arrived and tried to wake him, he refused to go home, instead continuing to sit on the ground. 

He also challenged the police to arrest him.

When he was arrested around 1.20am, two officers tried to get him into a police car. He struggled and banged his head on the boot twice, causing two dents there.

Officers then moved him away from the car and told him to sit by the side of the road to calm down. 

But when they tried to get him into the car again, he struggled and “necessary force had to be used to secure him” there, DPP Koh said.

During this period, Navarro hurled vulgarities at a police officer who was trying to secure his seat belt. 

His blood sample, which was taken while he was in police custody, was found to contain 91mg of ethanol per 100ml of blood. The legal limit for driving is 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood.

DPP Koh sought a S$5,000 fine, saying that Navarro’s drunken behaviour in public had been prolonged and that the root cause of it was an illegal gathering that breached Covid-19 laws.

For verbally abusing the police officer, he could have been fined up to S$5,000, jailed up to a year, or faced both penalties.

For causing annoyance while drunk, he could have been fined up to S$1,000, jailed up to six months, or received both punishments.