Updated: 01/29/2014 17:23 | By Channel NewsAsia
Shop owner fined for selling alcohol after restricted hours
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SINGAPORE: A man was fined S$4,000 on Wednesday for selling alcohol on December 22 outside of the hours that he is allowed to do so in Little India.
Yeo Eng Hock, 59, sold a can of beer at about 12.45am that day.
Yeo, who owns Yeo Buan Heng Liquor Shop, was not represented by a defence lawyer.
The prosecution brought up various aggravating factors in Yeo's case.
One of them was that the beer was sold past midnight - more than four hours after alcohol sales must stop.
The restrictions were imposed after the December 8 riot in Little India.
Shops there that offer "takeaway" sales of alcohol can only do so between 6am and 8pm on weekends, the eve of public holidays and on public holidays.
In mitigation, Yeo said he was approached by a drunk customer that day, who had demanded to buy beer.
Yeo said the customer kicked the door of his shop.
He said he was afraid he might be harmed and in a moment of carelessness, he forgot about the alcohol restrictions.
Yeo could have been fined a maximum of S$5,000.
Meanwhile, an eatery owner in Little India was also fined S$4,000 for selling alcohol without a valid licence.
44-year-old Tan Suan Lee sold beer in December last year at the eatery along Jalan Besar.
This happened while alcohol restrictions were in place in Little India.
The prosecution had pressed for a heavier fine as Tan had been selling alcohol without a licence for about one and a half years. - CNA/ms
