Yunani Abdul Hamid, 34, was jailed a total of three years after he admitted to allowing his HDB flat in Bukit Panjang to be used by others to take drugs and Ecstasy last November.

The then lashing worker made news in April last year when he was freed after an eight-day trial for alleged drug trafficking in 1992.

The re-trial was ordered by Judge of Appeal V.K. Rajah who had expressed 'serious doubts'' about Yunani's guilt when he appealed against his nine-year and six-stroke sentence imposed in November 2007.

In the latest case, the court heard that Central Narcotics Bureau officers trailed Yunani's accomplice, suspected drug trafficker Misran Jumaat, 30, to Yunani's flat in Lompang Road on Nov 7.

Officers raided the flat and arrested several occupants for drug-taking.

They forced open a locked bedroom where Yunani, Misran and two other men were found, along with drug and gaming paraphernalia.

Misran was seen throwing items out of the bedroom window.

He later admitted to officers that the items recovered from the playground, including drugs, were his.

Yunani and his seven accomplices, including his fiancee Rohani Tompang, 38, were taken to CNB headquarters and asked to take an instant urine test.

All tested positive for drugs.

Except for Misran, who is now behind bars for seven years and ordered to be given 10 strokes of the cane for trafficking and drug-related offences, the rest are at drug rehabilitation centres.

Pleading for a light sentence or a fine, Yunani told District Judge Hamidah Ibrahim that he had to take care of two children and his sickly mother.

He could have been jailed for up to 10 years and/or fined up to $40,000 for permitting his premises to be used for drug-taking. For consumption, he could have been jailed for up to 10 years and/or fined up to $20,000.