Man who tried to sexually assault his 81-year-old mother gets 14 years’ preventive detention

SINGAPORE (The Straits Times/ANN): When her son had to move out of his flat after he punched his wife for refusing sex, an 81-year-old woman agreed to take him in, even though other relatives tried to dissuade her from doing so.

For her kindness, she was repaid with a violent attack by her own flesh and blood.

The man came back drunk to his mother’s home one night and tried to sexually assault her.

On Aug 5, Judicial Commissioner Christopher Tan sentenced the 61-year-old man to 14 years’ preventive detention.

Another nine charges were taken into consideration during sentencing.

Under preventive detention, repeat offenders are detained for between seven and 20 years for the protection of the public.

The judge said it was warranted in this case, as the man had shown himself to be a habitual offender who was too recalcitrant for reformation.

The man’s past criminal convictions showed a recurring theme of domestic violence and contempt for law enforcement officers, said the judge.

Described by prosecutors as a “menace to society”, the man has been convicted on 14 separate occasions between 1982 and 2019 for various offences.

He was given 10 years’ corrective training in 1987 for culpable homicide, but this did not deter him from a life of crime.

The judge noted that the man’s son and daughter had submitted letters to the court to say that he has been a good father to them, despite his longstanding battle with alcohol.

The siblings said they were saddened to see their father branded as a menace to society, and hoped for him to return to them soon.

The judge said the letters were “heartbreaking” and that he could not begin to imagine the anguish that the man’s children must be experiencing after seeing what their father had done to their grandmother and mother.

“However, the appalling nature of the accused’s deeds must be met with an appropriate sentence by the law,” he said.

Prosecutors had earlier told the court that investigations showed the man has been an alcoholic for many years, and that when he was intoxicated, he would become violent and have a “high sex drive”.

On Jan 10, 2021, the man, who had earlier been drinking, asked his wife for sex. When she declined, he threatened to break her face.

Later that night, he suddenly charged towards her and punched her hard in the face, causing her to fall backwards and hit a cupboard.

She suffered a fractured nose, broken blood vessels in her eye and a fractured finger, and was hospitalised for seven days.

Following the incident, she obtained a personal protection order to restrain the man from committing family violence against her, as well as a domestic exclusion order, to restrict him from entering her home.

As a result, the man had to move out. With nowhere else to go, he turned to his mother.

His mother, who needed a walking stick to move around, agreed to let him stay with her in her rented one-room flat.

On the night of April 27, 2021, the man, who had consumed at least 20 cans of beer, suddenly placed his belt around his mother’s neck and tightened it, but eventually released the strap.

After the woman went to sleep, the man climbed onto her bed and removed her clothes by force.

The victim resisted, told him to stop and that she was his mother, but to no avail.

The man molested his mother, grabbed her neck, and punched her when she continued to struggle.

He tried to sexually violate her but she pushed his hand away. The man became tired and fell asleep.

The next morning, while she was waiting for the lift to go to the market with a neighbour, her son told her that he would kill her if she told anyone about the incident.

The neighbour later noticed that the right side of the victim’s mouth was swollen and called the woman’s granddaughter. The granddaughter then called the police. – The Straits Times/ANN