The Australian man who was caught causing a proper ruckus scuffling with police officers at Changi Airport in a viral video has been slapped with a six-and-a-half-month jail sentence, TODAY reports.
Jason Peter Darragh, 44, was seen going on a drunken rampage at the departure hall of Changi Airport Terminal 2 on the afternoon of Apr 20, making vulgar threats and assaulting officers.
He had been transiting in Singapore on the way to the Philippines to visit his girlfriend when he was approached by two police officers that day. A clip of him hurling profanities at them and pushing one officer to the ground went viral on social media, as these incidents always do. In the end, it took at least six officers to arrest Darragh.
Even after posting bail for the offenses he committed at the airport, the man continued to be a nuisance in public. On the morning of Apr 26, he hurled vulgarities at a police officer at Tan Tock Seng Hospital, while on May 1, he was so drunk at a taxi stand in Clarke Quay that he could not take care of himself.
In court, the Australian pleaded guilty to one count each of using criminal force, voluntarily causing hurt, using vulgar language on policemen and causing annoyance while drunk in public. His lawyer argued that Darragh struggled with alcohol abuse after separating from his wife of three years, and had been “on a path of recovery” before leaving for Singapore.
On social media, his documented rampage earned him the title of “bogan” — the Australian (and Kiwi) version of an uncouth redneck.
