Public Prosecutor v XRU

• Jurisdiction: Singapore
• Judgment Date: 25 September 2025
• Neutral Citation: [2025] SGYC 6
• Court: Youth Court (Singapore)
• Parties: Public Prosecutor,XRU

Public Prosecutor v XRU

[2025] SGYC 6

Case No. 900022 of 2025

Public Prosecutor

XRU

Youth Court

Amy Tung

Criminal Procedure and Sentencing - Offenders dealt with by the Youth Court - Making of order upon finding of guilt - Children and Young Persons Act 1993

DPP Kamen Chiang (Attorney-General’s Chambers) and Mr Donn Dennis (Health Sciences Authority) for the Prosecution

Youth and Mother in person.

25 September 2025

District Judge Amy Tung:

1. The youth before me, Ben (not his real name) is a 15-year-old male. He faced a total of 20 charges, out of which the Prosecution proceeded with 12, with the remaining 8 charges to be taken into consideration with his consent. Ben pleaded guilty to the 12 proceeded charges. On 21 July 2025, after making the finding of guilt, I ordered that he be sent to a Juvenile Rehabilitation Centre (“JRC”) i.e. the Singapore Boys’ Home (“SBH”) for a period of 24 months. There is no appeal against my order.

The salient facts of the 12 charges

2. I will set out in brief the salient facts of the 12 charges to which Ben pleaded guilty.

YAC-900155-2025 – Voluntarily causing hurt in committing robbery

3. On 5 March 2025, Ben and his friend, T met the victim and agreed to inhale ‘K-pod’ (a vaping device) together. When the victim did not agree to let T borrow his ‘K-pod’ device, a fight broke out. Both Ben and T punched and kicked the victim multiple times on the face, body and leg, causing the latter to fall to the ground. Even while the victim was on the floor, they continued assaulting him until he began bleeding from the mouth and nose.

4. Ben and T then asked the victim if he had any valuables on him. The victim denied having any. Ben and T proceeded to search the victim’s pockets and threatened to slash him with a karambit knife if he did not cooperate (although no knife was actually produced). Ben then took the victim’s ‘K-pod’ device and fled.

5. The victim sustained multiple injuries including a lip contusion and nasal bone fracture.

6. Ben pleaded guilty to the offence punishable under section 394 of the Penal Code 1871 (the “Penal Code”).

YAC-9000264-2025 – Harassing a Public Servant

7. On 1 May 2025, Ben’s mother, Madam Lee (not her real name) called ‘999’ stating that “My son is going crazy”. Two police officers were dispatched to respond to the incident report. Upon their arrival, Mdm Lee showed the police officers a vaping device and explained that her son had not been acting normally since using it.

8. One of the police officers (the “SPF officer”) noticed that Ben was agitated and asked him to sit down, upon which Ben shouted at him. The SPF officer noticed cuts on Ben’s legs and insisted that paramedics check on his injuries. Ben refused and continued to be aggressive, shouting vulgarities at the SPF officer during their exchange.

9. Ben pleaded guilty to the offence under section 6(1) of the Protection from Harassment Act 2014, punishable under section 6(3) of the same Act.

YAC-900361-2025 – Causing or contributing to risk of dangerous fire

10. On 29 September 2024, Ben had met four other friends to celebrate a birthday at the void deck of a block of HDB flats. One of the friends had brought a lighter to light the candles on the birthday cake. While the group was sitting around the table at the void deck, Ben used the lighter to set a pair of wooden chopsticks on fire and thereafter placed the burning chopsticks on the table, which caused the plastic tabletop to sustain damage.

11. The police were alerted to this incident through a ‘999’ call about “a few teenagers playing with fire at the ground floor”.

12. Ben pleaded guilty to the offence under section 285(1)(c) of the Penal Code, punishable under section 285(2)(b) of the same Act.

YAC-900362-2025 – Theft in dwelling house etc. with Common Intention

13. On 12 August 2023, Ben and another friend, H, were in a shop at Harbourfront Centre and took food and drinks with a total value of $40.20 without paying for them.

14. Their actions were captured on CCTV. The store staff asked them to return the items in their hands. They complied and left the store. Upon reviewing the CCTV footage, the store staff realised that there was a further item which had been placed in H’s bag and not returned. The store staff subsequently called the police.

15. Ben pleaded guilty to the offence under section 380 read with section 34 of the Penal Code.

YAC-900368-2025 – Amalgamated Shop Theft

16. On 25 June 2023, Ben took four packets of ‘Kinder Bueno’ chocolates valued at $9.40 from a supermarket without paying for them.

17. On 13 July 2023, Ben took a bottle of perfume valued at $140 from a shop at Nex without paying for it.

18. On 9 April 2024, Ben took one pair of white socks valued at $5.90 from a shop at Nex without paying for them.

19. On 20 May 2024, Ben took a Logitech G/MSE gaming mouse valued at $189 from a shop at Nex without paying for it.

20. As such, Ben committed shop theft on four separate occasions under section 380 of the Penal Code, which taken together amounted to a course of conduct. He pleaded guilty to an amalgamated charge under section 124(4) of the Criminal Procedure Code 2010 which is punishable under section 124(8)(a)(ii) of the same Act.

YAC 9000380-2025 – Voluntarily Causing Hurt with Common Intention

21. The victim was a 13-year-old male. On 24 July 2023, the victim’s aunt called ‘999’ to report that her nephew had been beaten up outside his school.

22. The investigations revealed that after hearing that the victim had badmouthed Ben and two other youths, they confronted the victim and brought him to a staircase landing at a multi-storey carpark. They started assaulting the victim by punching, kicking and pushing him multiple times on the face and torso. This caused the victim’s head to be slammed against the floor and wall. He lost consciousness for approximately 10 minutes and when he regained consciousness, he vomited twice and suffered pain in his head, chest, back and abdomen. The victim had multiple superficial injuries to his left ear, left knee, chest and abdomen.

23. Ben pleaded guilty to the offence of voluntarily causing hurt punishable under section 323 read with section 34 of the Penal Code.

YAC-900390-2025 – Theft with common intention

24. On 5 February 2024, Ben and another youth, R, came across a listing on Carousell (an online platform) advertising a personal mobility device (“PMD”) battery for sale at $700. They came up with a plan to meet with the seller, take and flee with the PMD battery, without paying for it.

25. Later in the evening on the same day, they met up with the seller. During the meeting, R requested to test the PMD battery before making payment. The seller agreed and handed the battery over to R, who installed it onto his electric scooter and instructed Ben to “test” the scooter. Ben then fled on the electric scooter with the PMD battery while R fled on foot.

26. The seller gave chase and managed to intercept Ben. He instructed Ben to call R back and to make payment. However, Ben fled a second time on the electric scooter. In attempting to stop him, the seller held onto Ben’s arm and was dragged forward; this caused him to fall and sustain superficial cuts to the...