Warrant of arrest issued against elderly man accused of assaulting bus driver

SINGAPORE – An elderly man accused of assaulting a bus driver last month had a warrant of arrest issued against him after he failed to turn up in a district court on Wednesday (Dec 1).

Ahmad Robinson, 70, who was expected to be handed two more charges for a drug-related crime and an offence under the Covid-19 (Temporary Measures) Act, failed to appear before District Judge Terence Tay.

A review on matters involving his warrant of arrest will take place in March next year.

Ahmad and Aziz Khan Sher Khan, 61, are said to have failed to wear their masks properly when they boarded bus service 2 at around 11am on Nov 2.

The police said in an earlier statement that the two Singaporean men became unhappy when bus driver Hew Kim Keong highlighted the matter to them.

The pair then allegedly rained blows on Mr Hew, causing him to suffer a nasal bone fracture.

Police arrested Ahmad and Khan later that day.

On Nov 3, they were each charged with one count of voluntarily causing grievous hurt to Mr Hew.

Khan was on Wednesday handed two more charges – one count each of theft as well as an offence under the Covid-19 (Temporary Measures) Act over his alleged failure to don a mask properly on the bus.

Besides assault, he is now accused of stealing Mr Hew’s wallet, which contained items including $700 in cash.

According to court documents, Khan was under a remission order when he allegedly committed these offences.

He had been released from prison last year after serving his sentence for an unspecified offence and was placed on the order.

As part of it, he was supposed to stay out of trouble from May 5 last year to Jan 12 next year.

He is said to have breached the order after he allegedly committed his latest string of offences.

Khan is expected to plead guilty to his charges on Dec 10.

For voluntarily causing grievous hurt, an offender can be jailed for up to 10 years and fined or caned.

Ahmad and Khan cannot be caned as they are over 50 years old.