A coffee shop operator in Singapore was sentenced to 22 months' jail on Monday, March 10, after he pleaded guilty to one charge of voluntarily causing hurt which causes grievous hurt. This comes after Ho Ah Wah, 76, pushed a customer while they were at a Singapore Pools outlet in Marine Parade.
After hitting his head against a cabinet, the victim, who was 80 at that time, suffered a skull fracture and died later.
During sentencing, a charge of intentionally inflicting harm was taken into account.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Zhou Yang told the court that the victim, a frequent patron of Ho's coffee shop, had stolen some kueh from a coffee shop stall a few months before to the altercation that resulted in his death.
Ho received a complaint about the old customer's behavior from the stall owner, who also paid him rent. After that, Ho would keep a tight eye on the man whenever he came to the coffee shop, which made him unhappy.
Around 11 am on May 8, 2022, both men were at the Singapore Pools location in the FairPrice store in Marine Parade. They began to argue, using gestures and using profanities in Hokkien.
Initially after leaving, Ho came back to face the other man and punched him. Ho told him, "Later, I wait for you outside." Then, when the other man filled out his betting slips, Ho made his wager at the payment counter.
Ho, however, was still upset and went up to the man once more. He repeatedly shoved the victim's arm away before striking him in the head. The old man fell and struck his head on a wooden cabinet when he pushed him in the chest.
A customer who had tried to intervene used his phone to record a video in case Ho fled the scene. A security officer stopped him from leaving and called the police. He also gave the victim a stool to sit on.
When the victim tried standing up, he staggered backwards. When the victim was about to fall as he was unconscious, a member of the public halted his fall. He was taken via ambulance to Changi General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
In a post-mortem report, a consultant forensic pathologist noted that the victim suffered a 14.5cm-long skull fracture and was bleeding in the area. The cause of death was certified as head injury.
DPP Zhou, who pointed out that Ho was the violent party, requested a jail term of one and a half to two years. He said that after considering Ho's advanced age and deteriorating health, the prosecution had reduced the sentence it was requesting.
Ho suffers from spine problems, thick cataracts in both eyes, and prostate cancer.
He might have been fined up to $10,000, imprisoned for up to five years, or both for the offense.
