A construction worker pleaded guilty to rioting in Little India on Dec 8; he is the first among 25 men facing various charges relating to the fracas to admit to rioting.

On Wednesday, Indian national Ramalingam Sakthivel, 33, also admitted to a second offence of causing mischief by fire. He is expected to be sentenced on May 8.

The 33-year-old is said to have pelted police officers and vehicles with projectiles, and threw burning items into a bus that was involved in the fatal road traffic accident that sparked the violence on Race Course Road last December.

Court documents also showed that he had tried to overturn a police car and hit an ambulance with a pole while Home Team officers were inside the Singapore Civil Defence Force vehicle.

The prosecution told the court it estimated that the accused's actions led to damages amounting to more than $370,000.

Six of the other men have pleaded guilty to failing to disperse and served out their jail terms of between 15 and 18 weeks each. One man, Mahalingam Thavamani, has an ongoing trial to fight allegations of him obstructing a police officer, and the remaining 17 have their cases pending in court.