SINGAPORE - A 38-year-old man was jailed six years and ordered to receive 12 strokes of the cane on Wednesday (Feb 22) for committing robbery with hurt.

At around 9.20pm on Aug 19, 2016, Mohammad Hamzah Abdul Motalib loitered around his neighbourhood at Kim Tian Green, near Jalan Bukit Merah, looking for somebody to rob.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Amanda Sum said he had a knife with a 25cm-long blade concealed in the left side of his trousers.

Hamzah soon spotted Kyi Pyar Naing Lin, 26, walking home and tailed her to Block 127A.

He ran after the nurse, who was still in her uniform, as she tried to catch a lift before the doors closed.

Hamzah slashed her right hand and pushed her into the lift.

DPP Sum said: "At this point, the victim reflexively caught hold of the knife with her right hand in order to prevent the accused from cutting her neck with it and a struggle ensued.

"In the course of the struggle, the victim dropped her Huawei mobile phone that she had been holding in her hand and the phone fell to the ground."

The Myanmar national eventually released her grip on the knife.

Hamzah grabbed the phone, worth $120, and ran home to nearby Block 127C.

Several residents in the neighbourhood heard Ms Kyi's screams and passers-by helped her with her wounds.

The police were notified at around 10pm and officers arrested Hamzah in his flat about three hours later.

Ms Kyi was treated at the Singapore General Hospital for a slash wound to the back of her right hand and a wound on her right index finger.

DPP Sum urged the court to sentence Hamzah to six years' jail with 12 strokes of the cane, stressing that he had committed armed robbery.

Offenders convicted of robbery with hurt, can be jailed up to 20 years and receive at least 12 strokes of the cane.