Short detention order for man who used criminal force on private-hire driver
Shaffiq Alkhatib
The Straits Times
Sept 7, 2026
After consuming alcohol in June 2024, a man took a private-hire car to his Clementi home and used criminal force on the driver, who was later found lying on the road.
On Sept 7, British national Oruche Morgan Fidelis, 23, was sentenced to a five-day short detention order (SDO) and 100 hours of community service.
Offenders with SDO will not have a criminal record after their release.
After serving his SDO, Oruche will have to perform community service within a year under the supervision of an authorised officer.
He had earlier claimed trial to one count of voluntarily causing hurt to 66-year-old driver Low Ek Yong, who was found with a fractured skull and a brain injury.
Low died of other causes – heart disease and large bowel obstruction – a year later.
Following the trial, Oruche pleaded guilty to an amended charge of using criminal force on the victim.
Court documents stated that he had stepped out of Low’s vehicle with his left arm raised towards the older man.
The gesture amounted to assault under the law, as it had caused Low to apprehend that Oruche was about to use criminal force on him.
In amending the charge, District Judge John Ng noted that although Low had suffered head injuries, it could not be ascertained how he sustained them – whether he was assaulted or had tripped and fallen.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Benjamin Low stated in his submissions that at around 5pm on June 12, 2024, the offender accompanied his boss to meet two clients for drinks at a Circular Road pub near Boat Quay.
Oruche consumed about three pints of beer before heading to a Marina Bay bar, where he drank more alcoholic drinks.
He left at around 10.30pm, booked a ride with transport provider Grab and entered the victim’s car.
Oruche sat in the rear, put on his AirPods and fell asleep.
He was still sleeping when the car pulled up outside his home at around 11pm.
The prosecution’s case was that the victim tried to wake Oruche, but he remained unresponsive.
“The victim then got out of the vehicle and... tried to rouse the accused from his slumber by shaking the accused,” said the DPP.
According to the prosecutor, Oruche became angry, lunged at the victim and pushed him.
The man ended up in a minimally conscious state and could neither move on command nor respond to external stimuli.
Oruche was represented by lawyers Shashi Nathan, Harjeet Kaur and Tan Jia Yi from Withers KhattarWong.
During the trial, Oruche testified that he “stumbled” out of the car and did not recognise the person shaking him.
He also told the court that the driver punched him on the left side of his face, and he hit back in self-defence.
“I was scared that he was going to hit me again,” he added.
Oruche’s mother heard the commotion and alerted his father.
His parents ran out of their home and saw the driver lying face up on the road.
Oruche’s father tried to communicate with the man, but he was unresponsive. The father then called for an ambulance.
Oruche told the police on June 13, 2024: “I pushed (the victim) off me. I remember that.”
He was arrested at around 4am that day.
The driver was discharged on Aug 7, 2024, and died of other causes in June 2025.
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