SINGAPORE: Singaporeans were quick to condemn a tourist from Great Britain who assaulted a number of people at Marina Bay Sands on Sept 21.
The people attacked by 43-year-old Jonathan David Lowe included a staff member from MBS. Lowe also threw a flowerpot on the night of the incident.
He pleaded guilty to one count of public nuisance and one count of voluntarily causing hurt on Oct 17 and was slapped with a S$1000 fine, as well as a six-week jail sentence,
Additionally, for Lowe’s sentencing, four charges of hurting other members of the public were taken into consideration.
The British national had been in the country for the Singapore Grand Prix weekend when the incident occurred at the rooftop bar of MBS at around 8 o’clock in the evening.
He was in the company of some colleagues and had consumed two cups of whisky, according to a report in AsiaOne.
By 10:40 pm he was caught on camera entering a lift with five men. To everyone’s surprise, he started slapping and punching the other occupants of the elevator.
Even when the other men tried to stop him, he kept on hitting them, until the elevator stopped. When its doors opened, the men hastily left.
Fortunately, none of the men sustained serious injuries.
When Lowe descended to the B2 lift lobby, he took a plant and threw it into the lift, and then went inside it again. On the fourth level, he threw the pot onto the floor.
Shortly afterwards, MBS assistant manager Ng Se Li went to the fourth-floor lift lobby, and Lowe punched him several times on the head.
The British tourist also stomped on Mr Ng’s head, added AsiaOne. As a result of his head injury, the assistant manager was given seven days’ hospitalization leave.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Zhou Yang called the assault brutal and unprovoked.
Commenters on Reddit were quick to condemn Lowe for his actions, although some were puzzled that he would behave so erratically after drinking only two cups of whisky.
“2 cups of whisky then proceed to assault people???” wrote one, adding, “Seems to me he got anger issues instead.”
Another observed that after just that amount, a person ”should still be at least 80 per cent of their normal self.”
One guessed that Lowe might have consumed the alcohol on an empty stomach, which would have changed matters.
“At most you’ll get tipsy, but should still have awareness and control,” a Reddit user pointed out.
Others expressed sympathy for the MBS assistant manager, Mr Ng, saying that he could have died from the assault. /TISG