A 64-year-old woman, who is a Chinese national, was fined a total of S$10,300 for confronting an 11-year-old boy in his home and punching him in the chest after her nine-year-old grandson got into a scuffle with him at the playground.
She claimed trial, but was eventually found guilty of her offences.
Grandson said he was hurt
According to Lianhe Zaobao, the incident occurred at a condominium playground on May 30, 2024.
The address and parties involved cannot be named due to a gag order to protect the victim's identity.
Citing court documents, Zaobao reported that the elderly woman had arrived in Singapore a month prior to the incident.
She resides at the condo with her son, daughter-in-law and her grandchildren.
On the day of the incident, the woman's nine-year-old grandson was playing at the playground when he got into a scuffle with the 11-year-old.
The grandson claimed that the 11-year-old hurt him with a bicycle, leaving him bleeding from cuts on his left thigh.
ADVERTISEMENT
When the grandson got home, he told the woman about what happened.
Confronting the boy
The woman then brought her grandson to confront the 11-year-old and his parents, who resided in the same condo.
As soon as someone answered the door to their house, the woman barged in and demanded to speak with the 11-year-old's parents.
At the time, only the boy and the family's helper were at home, Zaobao reported.
She then exited the house but stood at the front door to question the 11-year-old.
The boy denied hurting her grandson, but the woman was dissatisfied with this response.
She got angrier, and retorted, "If not you, then who?"
She started cussing at the boy and kicked over the bicycle, which was kept in the boy's house.
She then raised her right hand and punched the boy in his chest.
The act was caught on the closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera installed at the front door of the house.
The 11-year-old's mother reported the incident to the police and brought her son to the doctors that same evening.
The boy was found to have suffered a minor bruise on his chest.
Claimed it was an accident
In court, the woman claimed that she did not intend to hurt the 11-year-old.
Instead, she had lost her balance and accidentally brushed the boy's chest.
However, the judge pointed out that CCTV footage clearly showed that the woman had intended to punch the boy, and that there was photographic evidence of the bruise suffered by the boy.
The prosecution argued that the woman's violent behaviour was gangster-like.
They sought four to six weeks' jail, taking into account her lack of remorse and the fact that she used violence against someone younger than her.
However, the judge noted that the woman's actions did not come out of nowhere and the evidence showed that the 11-year-old did hurt the woman's grandson.
The judge eventually found the 64-year-old guilty of voluntarily causing hurt and handed her a S$7,500 fine.
The judge also fined her S$800 and S$2,000 respectively for mischief and violating the Protection from Harassment Act.
According to 8world, the prosecution is appealing the sentence on the charge of voluntarily causing hurt, arguing that a fine does not sufficiently address the act of the woman intentionally hitting the young boy.