S'porean man, 22, gets 1 week's jail for striking down & killing elderly pedestrian while cycling along Rochor Road

A full-time national serviceman with the Singapore Police Force (SPF) was cycling negligently when he struck down an elderly pedestrian who later died two days later of a head injury on Apr. 24, 2025.

The 83-year-old woman sustained a 14cm skull fracture and a haemorrhage as a result of the fall.

According to The Straits Times (ST), Haaris Sulaiman was sentenced to a week in jail on Aug. 24, 2026, after pleading guilty to causing the victim's death.

He was also ordered to pay S$5,000 in compensation or spend an additional 20 days in jail if he fails to pay the amount.

The 22-year-old has since completed his national service with the SPF.

Was on his way home to collect uniform

According to court documents seen by Mothership, on Apr. 22, 2025, at around 5:36pm, Haaris was at Bugis Junction near the bicycle lots.

He needed to go home to collect his police uniform before cycling to Kampong Java Neighbourhood Police Centre to report for duty by 6:30pm.

He rented a bicycle and began cycling on a footpath along Rochor Road.

Court documents noted that the weather was clear, the footpath was dry, and Haaris had adequate sight of pedestrians on the footpath.

The speed limit for cycling on the footpath was 10km per hour, but at certain segments he was cycling at speeds of up to 14km per hour.

Collided into victim

At around 5:39pm, Haaris cycled past three pedestrians as he approached a traffic junction.

Whilst checking for vehicles on his right, he failed to see the victim walking on his left on the footpath.

He collided with the elderly woman with the left handlebar of the bicycle, causing her to fall and sustain head injuries.

Haaris stopped to help the victim and called the ambulance immediately after.

The ambulance arrived at the scene around 5:54pm, and the victim was conveyed to the Emergency Department of Tan Tock Seng Hospital.

A scan showed that the victim sustained extensive head injuries.

She was given palliative care and was pronounced dead at 1:10pm on Apr. 24, 2025.

Offered to pay the victim's family compensation

Court documents noted that Haaris offered to pay the victim's family S$5,000 in compensation.

But the victim's family rejected the offer, stating that it was insufficient and left it up to the court to decide.

The prosecution sought two weeks' imprisonment and said Haaris' culpability was low to moderate as he was riding a non-motorised bicycle.

The prosecution also noted that Haaris was riding at slightly above the speed limit at three of the six route segments that were analysed by the Health Sciences Authority's forensic lab.

There was also no evidence that he was speeding at the time of the collision with the victim.

However, court documents noted that the footpath was moderately crowded and Haaris should have paid more attention to pedestrians.

During sentencing, the prosecution noted that Haaris was remorseful; he pleaded guilty at the first stage, resulting in the maximum 30 per cent sentencing reduction being accorded to him.

According to ST, District Judge Lim Tse Haw noted that accidents involving cyclists hit a four-year high in 2025.

Lim stressed that the duty of keeping a lookout for pedestrians was on cyclists and said: "Any death is one death too many".