Coffee shop operator, 76, jailed for pushing his customer, 80, at S’pore Pools outlet, killing him

SINGAPORE – A coffee shop operator who had an issue with a customer pushed him 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 later died.

On March 10, Ho Ah Wah, 76, was sentenced to 22 months’ jail after he pleaded guilty to one charge of voluntarily causing hurt which causes grievous hurt.

A charge of voluntarily causing hurt was taken into consideration during sentencing.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Zhou Yang said the victim, a regular customer at the coffee shop operated by Ho, had stolen some kueh from a stall in the coffee shop a few months before the altercation that led to his death.

The stall owner, who paid rent to Ho, complained to him about the elderly customer’s behaviour.

After that, Ho would watch the man closely whenever he visited the coffee shop, making the latter unhappy.

On May 8, 2022, both men were at the Singapore Pools outlet at the FairPrice supermarket in Marine Parade at about 11am. They started to quarrel, gesturing and uttering Hokkien vulgarities at each other.

Ho initially walked away, but later returned to confront the other man, and punched him. Ho then told him: “Later, I wait for you outside.”

Ho then placed his bet at the payment counter, while the other man filled up his betting slips.

But Ho was still angry, and confronted the man again.

He pushed away the victim’s arm a few times and punched him in the head. He then pushed the elderly man in the chest, causing him to fall and hit his head against a wooden cabinet.

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 stood up, he stumbled backwards. Although a member of the public nearby broke his fall, the victim had lost consciousness.

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.

A subsequent report found that the fracture was likely to have been sustained in the first fall.

DPP Zhou sought a jail sentence of between 1½ and two years, noting that Ho was the aggressive party who turned to violence. He said the prosecution had lowered the sentence it was asking, after taking into account Ho’s age and his poor state of health.

Ho has prostate cancer, dense cataracts in both eyes and spine-related issues.

For the offence, he could have been jailed for up to five years, fined up to $10,000, or both.