Two brothers who are twins will each serve the same amount of time behind bars and receive the same number of strokes of the cane for attacking a man at a dormitory.
Indian nationals Lakshmanan and Raman Pothiyappan, 24, were each jailed for five months and ordered to receive three strokes of the cane yesterday.
The construction workers pleaded guilty to one count of causing grievous hurt to their fellow countryman and colleague, Mr Thevvan Velayutham, 41.
They committed the offence at a Shaw Road dormitory near Upper Paya Lebar Road on Oct 29 last year.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Soh Weiqi said Mr Thevvan, who is also a construction worker, was sitting in the front porch of the dormitory at around 10.20am that day when the two brothers started punching and kicking him.
Lakshmanan, who had consumed alcohol shortly before the attack, also threw a chair at Mr Thevvan and it struck his head and body.
DPP Soh said: "Raman had informed that the victim and Lakshmanan were not on good terms, and that he had joined in the assault to support his brother."
Court papers did not reveal what sparked the attack.
Other workers who witnessed the incident managed to break up the scuffle.
But about 45 minutes later, Lakshmanan suddenly rushed towards Mr Thevvan and kicked him again.
His brother followed suit and also rained blows on their victim.
The other workers intervened for the second time and police arrived at the scene at around 11.15am.
Mr Thevvan later went to Changi General Hospital, where he was found to have injuries, including a broken nose and a fracture near an eye.
DPP Soh told District Judge Samuel Chua that the victim has since fully recovered from his injuries.
Stressing that Mr Thevvan had to fend himself against two men, she urged the judge to sentence the brothers, who were unrepresented, to at least five months' jail with caning.
Before handing out the sentence, Judge Chua told the brothers: "The injuries were severe... Such offences will not be tolerated in Singapore."
For causing grievous hurt, each attacker could have been jailed for up to 10 years and fined or caned.
Shaffiq Alkhatib
