A 74-year-old man was sentenced to two years, two months and two weeks in jail on May 28 after assaulting his wife, breaching a personal protection order, and injuring a police officer by splashing hot water at responding officers in Singapore.
His identity cannot be disclosed to safeguard the identities of his wife and two daughters.
The offender admitted guilt to one charge each of voluntarily causing hurt to a police officer, assaulting his wife, and breaching the PPO issued against him. Six additional charges were taken into consideration during sentencing.
Under the PPO, the man was prohibited from using violence against his 60-year-old wife and their two daughters. Deputy Public Prosecutor Tan Jun Ya, without revealing further details, said the PPO had been granted in 2003.
In January 2024, the man assaulted his wife during an argument involving one of their daughters. Court documents identified the daughter as A2. The dispute reportedly began after A2 asked him where several items, including a saw, had been placed. Enraged, the man struck his wife in the face when she attempted to intervene, leaving her with injuries that included a facial fracture.
Police were alerted by A2, and the victim was subsequently taken to hospital by ambulance. The man was arrested on Jan 18, 2024, before being released on a personal bond the following day.
In June 2025, the offender later harassed A2 after entering her shop in search of his wife, who was not present at the time. During the confrontation, he told his daughter to “go and die” and threatened to “smash” her husband’s head.
After A2 sought police assistance, officers advised the man to leave, and he returned home. More than five hours later, when his wife came back, he verbally abused her, pushed her out of the flat, and locked the front door.
The wife then contacted A2, who helped her seek police assistance once again. When officers arrived at the residence later that evening, the man refused to let them in.
DPP Tan said: “The accused had recently boiled water in a kettle and poured out the hot water into a metal pot.
“He then placed both the kettle and the metal pot near the front door for the purpose of splashing the hot water on the police officers in the event they entered the flat.”
After officers eventually entered the flat, the man grabbed the metal pot and hurled the hot water at two officers — a station inspector and a sergeant 2. A third officer intervened, and the elderly man was restrained and handcuffed shortly after.
The sergeant 2 suffered redness on his right thigh but did not require medical treatment. The station inspector, however, was taken to the National University Hospital, where doctors found partial thickness burns on his thighs, left wrist, and left ankle.
Court proceedings against the offender began on June 24, 2025, and he had remained in remand since that date.
