Corrective training, caning for man who fled after assaulting wife, rioting and was caught overseas

SINGAPORE - A man with a history of committing violent offences, including robbery, assaulted his wife with a knife a few months after he was released from prison.

The Singaporean committed the assault in September 2020 while still under a remission order, which required him to stay out of trouble from Feb 22, 2020, to Jan 19, 2021.

The man, who cannot be named due to a gag order to protect his wife’s identity, also committed rioting in April 2021 and illegally left Singapore by boat later.

He was arrested in Indonesia over unrelated offences in May 2023 and was sent back to Singapore after serving his detention there. Details about these offences were not disclosed in court documents.

He was finally charged in a Singapore court in December 2024.

On Feb 26, 2026, the 39-year-old man was sentenced to five years of corrective training – a severe prison regime aimed at tackling recalcitrant offenders. He was also ordered to receive six strokes of the cane.

Corrective training is imposed when the court finds that an offender needs a substantial period for reformation.

It involves the confinement of a repeat offender for at least five years and up to a maximum of 14 years.

The man had pleaded guilty to multiple charges including two counts of rioting and one count of assault.

Without revealing details, Deputy Public Prosecutor Darren Ang said that in 2004, the offender was placed on probation for 1½ years for rioting.

He was later ordered to undergo reformative training in 2007 for robbery.

Young offenders ordered to undergo reformative training are detained in a centre and follow a strict regimen that can include foot drills and counselling.

In 2011, the recalcitrant offender was fined $3,000 for assault.

In 2019, he was sentenced to 2½ years and 15 weeks’ jail, and six strokes of the cane for offences including rioting and assault.

He was released in February 2020 and was still under a remission order on Sept 28 that year when he had a quarrel with his wife in their home.

At around 6.15am, he took a knife from the kitchen and kicked the woman, identified in court documents as V1.

DPP Ang said: “The accused swung the knife several times towards V1’s head... The knife made contact with V1’s head and left ear.

“Following the assault... the accused and V1 (went) to the master bedroom, where the accused spoke to V1 about his difficult time in prison.”

At around 8am, V1 told her husband that she wanted to go to a nearby shop. She then left their home and alerted the police.

Officers arrested the man later that morning, and he was released on bail the next day.

Meanwhile, his wife went to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital where she was found to have a wounded left ear, along with bruises on her chest and left arm. She was subsequently given four days of medical leave.

While out on bail, the man re-offended after a 51-year-old male stranger bumped into him at the entrance of a hawker centre restroom in East Coast Road in the wee hours of April 11, 2021.

The offender confronted the older man, and they got into a verbal dispute.

The offender and his friends, who were nearby, then rained blows on the older man.

After running away, the older man told his 20-year-old son what had happened.

The pair were walking out of the hawker centre together when they crossed paths with the offender’s group.

Another confrontation ensued, and the group assaulted the pair.

An unnamed informant alerted the police and officers arrived at the scene soon after. However, the offender and his group had already left by then.

On an evening between April and June 2021, the offender paid a boatman an undisclosed amount to pick him up from a coastal area in Changi and transport him to Indonesia.

In 2023, the Indonesian authorities arrested the offender, who was later sent back to Singapore and charged on Dec 4, 2024.

He had been in remand since then.