Staff member of adult care home jailed nine weeks for attack on resident

SINGAPORE - After a resident grabbed his collar, an employee of an adult care home attacked the 36-year-old man who has autism, mild intellectual disability and epilepsy.

The 28-year-old care worker assaulted the resident twice on Sept 9 last year, even dragging him on the floor in one incident.

The Indian national was on Thursday (Oct 28) sentenced to nine weeks' jail after pleading guilty earlier to two charges of voluntarily causing hurt.

Before handing down the sentence, District Judge John Ng noted the difficulties faced by those in the profession, adding that he was sure the worker regrets his actions.

Addressing the work permit holder, the judge said: "Work done by people like you is not easy, I think it's a very tough situation. Nevertheless the message must be very clear - no way can such a situation be condoned."

The offender, the victim and the home cannot be named as there is a gag order protecting the victim's identity.

The care worker had been taking care of the victim since 2019.

After the victim grabbed his shirt collar in the first incident, the man threw the resident to the ground, pinned him down by holding his hands and placed a knee on his stomach.

The offender then stood up and stepped on the resident's stomach once.

The care worker later dragged the victim to the centre of the room they were in and kicked him five times on the outer right thigh.

The second assault occurred about 1½ hours later.

The resident had touched the man's collar again but removed his hand shortly after, without retaliatory action from the accused.

After some time, the resident approached the accused again, reaching out to him.

When purportedly told to sit on the floor, the victim did so, then stretched out his hand.

The worker grabbed the man's hand, dragged him along the floor and kicked him thrice.

The incidents were caught on the home's closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras. The attacks left the victim with a bruise on the back of his right thigh stretching from his hip.

The injury was discovered by his mother after he returned home on Sept 12 last year, and she contacted the home's staff.

The prosecution had sought 10 to 12 weeks' imprisonment, while defence lawyer S.S. Dhillon argued for a four-week sentence for his client.

Offenders convicted of voluntarily causing hurt to others can be jailed for up to three years or fined up to $5,000, or both.

As the victim is a vulnerable person, the care worker could have received twice the maximum punishment.

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