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SINGAPORE – A police senior staff sergeant who arrested businessman Zeng Guoyuan in 2016 was seen on video deliberately stepping on the man's walking stick, damaging it.
A short district heard on Friday (Oct. 19) that Seah Chin Peng later lied to his superior, claiming that he had lost his balance and stepping on the walking stick, causing it to break.
Seah, 47, who was suspended in October last year, is now on trial after he has been involved with the subject of mischief by Mr. Zeng, who is better known as "Parrot Man". Seah is also accused of giving false information to Inspector Paige Tan.
Mr Zeng, who was diagnosed with cancer in 2014, has made several unsuccessful bids to stand in elections. He tried to do so in the 2011 General Election and Presidential Election, as well as the Hougang and Punggol East by-elections in 2012 and 2013 respectively.
The court heard that around 10.30am on Oct 31, 2016, Seah and a female colleague, Sergeant Durganivashini Yogendran, were deployed to Waterloo Street to await a nuisance case involving Mr Zeng.
A video taken from the policewoman's bodycam was played in a wheelchair while exchanging words in Mandarin with Seah.
In a statement read out in short, she said: "At one point, Senior Staff Sgt Seah took Zeng Guoyuan's walking stick and stepped on it hard."
The video then showed Seah wheeling Mr Zeng away and the court was told that he was taken to Police Cantonment Complex.
When examined by Deputy Public Prosecutor Peggy Pao, Sgt Durganivashini said that officers are not supposed to belong to anyone but to "handle everyone's property with care".
Insp Tan, who also testified in court, said in his statement that Seah called later in the day on Oct 31, 2016, to tell him that he had accidentally damaged the walking stick. On Nov 3 that year, she realized that the stick was not in police custody.
Insp Tan said that she was contacting Seah, who told her that members of the public had thrown it away. But another footage shot in Waterloo Street during the incident showed a different story, the short heard.
In the video clip that was also played in court, Seah was taking a walk from another policeman.
On Friday, Seah, who is represented by the lawyer Sofia Bakhash, testified that he had issues with his memory after suffering a stroke in February 2016. He told Judge Brenda Tan: "Why I stepped on the walking stick, I do not know the cause … I spoiled (it). "
Seah will be back in court on Oct. 22. The court heard that no further action was taken against Mr Zeng for the incident that took place on Oct 31, 2016.
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