Courts | Man convicted for assault on smoking inspectors

The Court of First Instance (TJB) have sentenced an offender with a term of nine months’ imprisonment, suspended from execution for two years, in addition to requiring the offender to pay medical expenses and other compensations (a total of over MOP20,000) to the victims.

The case goes back to mid- May 2015 when two smoke inspectors were assaulted and insulted by the offender while they were performing a regular inspection at the Border Gate Bus Terminus.

At the time, the inspectors from the Health Bureau (SSM) witnessed the man smoking illegally on the mentioned venue and approached him, asking him to stop the action and cooperate with the issuing of his fine. The smoker did not cooperate with the agents, and tried to escape by pushing the smoke inspectors, causing them injuries while offending them verbally.

The police was called to intervene in the case and now the TJB has judged that the conduct of the offender constitutes both a “crime of resistance and coercion” and a “crime of disobedience,” referred to in the Criminal Code of Macau, and consequently have applied a cumulative sentence of a nine months in prison.

The accused must also compensate the inspectors for their medical expenses as well as for other material and non-pecuniary damages, legal fees attached to the case, in a total amount of over MOP20,000.
A revised version of the Smoking Prevention and Control Regime will enter into force on January 1, 2018, that, among other things, extends the smoking area ban to 10 meters away from bus stops and sees the fines for infractions committed to this regime increased from MOP600 to MOP 1,500.