Kiwi jailed in Singapore for grabbing police officer

Scott Hannan arrived at Singapore's Changi airport, from Australia, and while waiting for his connecting flight to Thailand reportedly drank eight pints of beer and missed his flight.

A New Zealander has reportedly been jailed for three weeks in Singapore for grabbing a police officer after he missed his flight and became agitated at Changi airport.

The Straits Times reported chef Scott Bradley Hannan, 37, a New Zealand citizen, was sentenced to jail for grabbing the collar of a local officer on the morning of August 16.

Hannan arrived in Singapore, from Australia, and while waiting for his connecting flight to Thailand drank eight pints of beer, the Singapore news outlet reported.

When he woke, he realised he had missed his flight and went to the transfer counter to seek assistance, the Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Quek Jing Feng told The Straits Times.

It was reported Hannan caused a commotion by "spewing vulgarities, throwing his bag and kicking items, unhappy that he had to buy another flight ticket".

When police officers arrived he was drinking beer in the smoking room.

The DPP said officers took him through the transfer counter to try and "facilitate an amicable resolution of the matter".

Hannan was reportedly drunk and continued to talk loudly and was uncooperative.

He then became agitated and grabbed Senior Staff Sergeant Tan Ah Han with his right hand, causing the officer's radio to fall to the floor, the DPP told The Straits Times.

The two officers backed away in an effort to calm the traveller down, but he reportedly continued to be aggressive and charged towards the officer.

"Necessary force was then used to place him under arrest as he put up a violent struggle," the paper reported.

The Straits Times reported the Kiwi's lawyer, Gino Hardial Singh, said in mitigation his client had rushed from Perth to Bangkok when he found his two-and-a-half-year-old son was in hospital with pneumonia in Thailand.

"The combination of alcohol, anxiety and stress due to his son's hospitalisation, sleep deprivation and the shock of him missing his flight led to Scott behaving completely out of character," Singh was reported saying.

Hannan regretted behaving the way he did and realised that what he did was "incredibly foolish".

The Kiwi could have faced up to four years jail and a fine for the use of criminal force on a public servant, the publication reported.