Why hurt an elderly? Man punched a 70-year-old man three times after declining to share a table

SINGAPORE: An unfortunate incident happened at a coffee shop in Hougang when a 77-year-old man got into an argument with another customer, causing him to fall and suffer scalp abrasions, knee contusions, and a broken middle finger. 

As reported by Shin Min Daily News, the suspect was a 34-year-old man and now faces one charge of intentional assault and one charge of attempted intentional assault. He pleaded guilty to one of the charges, and the other is to be considered during sentencing.

Case details

According to investigations, the suspect was dining at the coffee shop, occupying a four-person table all by himself. The elderly man then wanted to share the table with the suspect, but he refused. 

Regardless of being declined, the elderly man insisted on sitting down, and the two got into an argument. The suspect then pushed the elderly man and punched him in the head three times, which resulted in injuries to his knees and hands. 

After the bout, the elderly man received medical assistance and was reported to have suffered scalp abrasions, a contusion to his left knee, and a fracture to his right middle finger. With this, he was transferred to another medical institution for surgery. 

Further investigations revealed that the suspect suffered from schizophrenia and had been a patient at the Institute of Mental Health since 2011. A psychiatric report declared that the suspect’s mental condition was related to the crime. 

In similar news related to disagreements at a food shop, there was a recent report where a local shared that staff shouted at them when asked to segregate those trays for halal or non-halal at a food court. 

It was shared that an older male worker aggressively asked the diner and her friend to place the trays in their designated areas. The diner’s friend responded sharply, stating that sorting trays was the staff’s responsibility.  

Read more about the news story here.