SINGAPORE - Former construction worker Samiyappan Sellathurai, 42, on Thursday became the sixth man to be convicted of rioting in Little India last December.

He was sentenced to 25 months in prison, backdated to his arrest on Dec 15.

Described as an "instigator" in Singapore's worst public disorder in decades, the Indian national had admitted to smashing a concrete slab and throwing the pieces at civil defence personnel and public service vehicles while intoxicated during the Dec 8 riot. He also smashed a metal rack against a Little India MRT station wall in attempts to bring it down.

A total of 25 men, all Indian nationals, were charged with rioting in Little India. Five others have been similarly convicted of rioting, receiving up to 33 months' imprisonment and three strokes of the cane.

Another nine have had their rioting charges amended to that of failure to disperse, obstruction, and unlawful assembly, receiving jail terms of between 15 and 36 weeks.