SINGAPORE - A 21-year-old man who brutally assaulted a fellow cleaner with three others at the multi-storey carpark of Pearls Centre was sentenced to four years' jail and six strokes of the cane on Thursday.

Anathan Muniandy, a Malaysian, was one of two who used a dustbin to hit compatriot S. Krisnan Value, who died from a crushed throat. An autopsy showed that Mr Krisnan suffered a total of 63 external injuries.

Diagnosed with mild intellectual disability, Anathan was the youngest of the four who caused grievous hurt to to the 47-year-old deceased at the carpark of the building on Sept 7 last year.

The other three - Kirubakaran Manikumaran, 22, Thiagu Muniandy, 23, who is Anathan's cousin, and Sunder Rangasamy, 28 - were given similar sentences on Tuesday after pleading guilty to the amended charge.

All four were originally charged with murder.

The court heard that Mr Krisnan was drinking for several hours with his assailants at coffeeshops at Pearls Centre, Eu Tong Sen Street, and Redhill Close.

At about 11pm on Sept 6 last year, a quarrel broke out between Mr Krisnan and Anathan. Kirubakaran removed his belt and hit Mr Krisnan twice on the face, leaving him with a bloodied cheek. Mr Krisnan then rested his head on the table while the rest continued drinking.

About half an hour later, Anathan and Kirubakaran apologised to Mr Krisnan for the earlier attack.

The five decided to return to Pearls Centre. They bought beer and drank at Level 11 of the carpark. Mr Krisnan lay on the mattress on the floor and told the rest he did not wish to drink any more

After a short while, Kirubakaran had a dispute with Mr Krisnan, and the two parties challenged each other to a fight. Kirubakaran punched Mr Krisnan twice on the face and the latter fell. Kirubakaran then told the rest to beat up Mr Krisnan,who was kicked and punched.

Anathan used a dustbin to hit the deceased's face and chest three or four times.Sunder threw a large plastic dustbin at Mr Krisnan's body twice.

About three hours later, Anathan tried to wake up Mr Krisnan and found out that he had died. He then went to Level 12 to wake up the rest at a makeshift room. The four panicked and left Singapore via Woodlands checkpoint at 4.20am the same day. They were arrested via follow-up investigation over the next few days.

The maximum punishment for causing grievous hurt is 10 years' jail, fine and caning.