SINGAPORE - A 19-year-old was charged in court on Thursday (Aug 18) with using criminal force on teenage blogger Amos Yee at Jurong Point mall.

Bryon Loke Thong Ler is alleged to have held on to the 17-year-old's hands and used his arms to restrain him from the back at basement 1 of the mall at Jurong West Central 2 between noon and 12.30pm on May 29.

A video of the incident was posted on YouTube by Amos, who was heard repeatedly shouting "Help me!" in the video.

Loke, who was unrepresented, told the court that he wished to engage counsel.

A pre-trial conference will be held on Sept 6.

This is the second time that Amos has been attacked.

In May last year, a 49-year-old businessman was jailed for three weeks for slapping Amos when the teen was walking to the State Courts for a pre-trial conference on April 30 the same year. The father of three had wanted to teach Amos a "lesson''.

In meting out the "sufficiently deterrent sentence", District Judge Ronald Gwee said a strong message must be sent that the man's brand of vigilante justice must never be allowed to take root lest they open the floodgates to future cases of aggrieved individuals taking matters into their own hands.

If convicted of using criminal force, Loke could be jailed for up to three months and/or fined up to $1,500.

Amos is now facing trial on six charges of intending to wound the feelings of Muslims or Christians - via five videos and a photo - and two counts of failing to report to the Jurong Police Division for investigation.