Nursing home resident jailed 4 weeks for assaulting staff, other elderly residents

SINGAPORE — A nursing home resident was jailed for four weeks on Wednesday (Dec 15) after he slapped a fellow resident with dementia and assaulted another resident who is wheelchair-bound. 

Several months after these incidents, Mohd Sharifuddin A Hamid went on to slap a healthcare assistant who refused to switch off the corridor lights in the nursing home. 

Sharifuddin, 70, pleaded guilty to two counts of voluntarily causing hurt to a vulnerable person. Another charge of causing hurt to the nursing home worker was taken into consideration for sentencing.

He has been remanded in prison since Nov 30.

The court heard that on Dec 23 last year, Sharifuddin approached a 79-year-old resident, who suffered from dementia, in the day room area at the Thye Hua Kwan Nursing Home in Hougang.

Sharifuddin then scolded the victim before slapping his face twice. Deputy Public Prosecutor Norine Tan told the court that the older man did not seem to understand what was going on possibly due to his condition.

About half an hour later, nurses realised that the area around the victim’s left eye was bruised. He was warded in hospital for two days as a result of the incident.

Six days later, Sharifuddin assaulted an 82-year-old wheelchair-bound man who had gone to a toilet to wash his face and brush his teeth.

Sharifuddin opened the door and shouted at him, upset that he could not use the toilet to wash up for his prayers.

Several staff members heard the commotion and went over to stop Sharifuddin from being aggressive.

A few minutes later, he opened the toilet door to scold the victim again before hitting him on the back of his neck. He was then restrained by staff members.

About four months had passed when Sharifuddin approached a healthcare assistant to ask him to switch off the lights at the corridor. When the other man said that they could not do this, Sharifuddin argued with him, challenged him to a fight and suddenly slapped his face.

Before Sharifuddin committed the offences, he was referred by the nursing home to the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) for aggressive behaviour and suicidal ideations.

He was referred to IMH after his offences once more but was found not to have any underlying mental illness. He did not require follow-up appointments as well.

For causing hurt to a vulnerable person, Sharifuddin could have been jailed for up to six years or fined up to S$10,000, or punished with both.