Tourist jailed after assaulting girlfriend and wrecking MBS hotel room in jealous rage
The Marina Bay Sands integrated resort in Singapore. (File photo: Melissa Zhu)
SINGAPORE: Angry that his girlfriend had danced with another man, a tourist visiting Singapore assaulted the woman in their hotel room at Marina Bay Sands (MBS), before wrecking the room and throwing items down from the seventh floor.
New Zealander Taputoro Meihana Deane Delamere, 32, also punched a police officer who went to the scene and pushed another officer, who hit his head on a glass door.
For his actions, Taputoro was sentenced to jail for three months and four weeks on Monday (Jan 6).
He pleaded guilty to three charges of voluntarily causing hurt to deter a public servant from his duty, voluntarily causing hurt by punching and kicking his then-girlfriend and a rash act by throwing items down from the hotel room.
Two more charges were taken into consideration for sentencing.
The court heard that Taputoro came to Singapore with his girlfriend, 29, for a holiday on Nov 13 last year.
The couple, who had been dating for about nine months, went to a club past midnight on Nov 16.
His girlfriend danced with another man on the dance floor, which made Taputoro jealous and angry, said Deputy Public Prosecutor Shana Poon.
They left the club and returned to their hotel room at MBS at about 4am, where they quarrelled about what had happened at the club.
Taputoro shouted at his girlfriend and asked her "if she knew how he was with jealousy", the court heard.
PUNCHED AND KICKED GIRLFRIEND, DRAWING SECURITY OFFICERS TO ROOM
He punched and kicked his girlfriend's face multiple times while she was seated on a chair, shouting at her and ignoring her calls to stop.
Security officers at MBS were alerted to the commotion and went to the room to find out what was going on.
Taputoro shouted at them to go away and slammed his girlfriend's mobile phone against the wall.
He also smashed a glass panel at the balcony with a chair and tried to drag the victim to the window, intending to jump down with her.
The woman managed to break free and flee the room to safety.
During the commotion, Taputoro threw items including two suitcases, two backpacks and a metal pole down from the room on the seventh floor.
The items landed on a road nearby and did not injure anyone.
RAMPAGE COST HOTEL S$8,700
His rampage cost the hotel about S$8,700 in damages, including the cost of replacing the main door, balcony glass panels, chairs, sofa and coffee table.
Security officers from the hotel called the police saying they could not open Taputoro's hotel door and that they had heard "what sounded like two fire shots coming from the room".
At about 5.50am, a team of voluntary special constable police officers went to the room next door, where they observed Taputoro, who was at the balcony of his room.
When Taputoro saw the officers, he shouted at them and challenged them to "come and get him", before climbing over the parapet to get to the room the officers were at.
When the officers tried to arrest him, Taputoro pushed one of them using both hands, causing him to stumble and hit the back of his head against a glass door.
When another officer rushed forward to help, Taputoro punched him in the face.
Taputoro's rampage left the punched officer hurt and his girlfriend with bruises on her eye and scalp.
"I WOULD LIKE TO APOLOGISE TO THE CITY OF SINGAPORE"
Taputoro, who was not represented, wrote a mitigation plea to the court saying he would like to "apologise to the city of Singapore for what I have done and the crimes I have committed in this beautiful city when I was supposed to be enjoying a holiday and relaxing, instead of making a fool of myself and breaking the law".
He said he had been very intoxicated but knew now that he has a drinking problem and anger issues.
He apologised to the victims and said he would be seeking help for these issues upon his return to New Zealand.
For voluntarily causing hurt to a public servant, he could have been jailed for up to seven years, fined, caned or given any combination of these punishments.
For voluntarily causing hurt, he could have been jailed for up to two years, fined a maximum S$5,000 or both.
