SINGAPORE – A man accused of molesting a 20-year-old woman during the Singapore Grand Prix in 2023 was granted a discharge amounting to an acquittal on April 1.

This means that Briton George Ernest Hyde, 37, cannot be charged again with the same offence.

This came after the matter was compounded, a process that requires an agreement with the victim to have the matter compensated, usually with payment or an apology.

Before agreeing to the terms, the public prosecutor will also need to consider public interest, the circumstances of the offence and whether there are any aggravating factors.

Under the law, only certain offences can be compounded, such as causing hurt and outrage of modesty.

Without revealing details about the terms of the composition, the Attorney-General’s Chambers told The Straits Times: “Having reviewed the facts and circumstances of the case, as well as with the complainant’s agreement, the prosecution acceded to the accused’s request to have the matter compounded.

“After the composition was effected, the court granted the accused a discharge amounting to an acquittal on April 1.”

Mr Hyde had been accused of molesting the woman at or along Connaught Drive at around 10.30pm, on Sept 16, 2023.

For molestation, an offender can be jailed for up to three years, fined, caned or receive any combination of such punishments.

Mr Hyde and Irishman Alan Michael Donoghue, 37, were first hauled to court in November 2023.

Donoghue was sentenced to six months and five weeks’ jail on Feb 23 after he pleaded guilty to multiple counts of assault.

He was with Mr Hyde and two other companions at the Padang to watch the F1 race and concerts on Sept 16, 2023.

They left the Padang at around 10.30pm and started walking along Connaught Drive.

A 25-year-old man and his three companions were walking in the opposite direction at around the same time. Believing he saw Mr Hyde touching one of his companions, the man immediately confronted the Briton.

Upon seeing the confrontation, Donoghue went up to the 25-year-old man and began gesticulating aggressively at him. Donoghue then pushed the man to the ground and punched his face multiple times.

In an unrelated case, the Irishman was at East Coast Park on June 24, 2023, for a friend’s wedding party, during which he drank alcohol. He left the event after midnight and went to a nearby drop-off point to take a Grab ride home, but got into the wrong car.

Donoghue assaulted the 32-year-old driver before raining blows on a 38-year-old man who tried to intervene.

Donoghue, who was then a global team leader in a company in Singapore, was arrested at the scene soon after.