SINGAPORE - A jobless man who lashed out at two policemen as they tried to arrest him has been sent to jail.

Toh Guang Yi, 22, had been placed on a supervision programme for drug consumption but had thrown away his electronic ankle tag in a bid to evade the authorities when he was stopped by the officers in Bukit Batok.

A scuffle ensued as he tried to escape, and he left one with a cut lip and the other with a dislocated right arm, but they still managed to subdue him with the help of passers-by.

Toh was sentenced to five years and three months' jail with three strokes of the cane on Wednesday (May 29) after pleading guilty to drug consumption, mischief, assaulting a policeman and using criminal force on the other.

Toh was sentenced to four years of reformative training in March 2016 for his earlier drug offence. But in April last year, he was placed on a "release on supervision programme" and issued with a radio-frequency identification tag strapped to his left ankle.

Around three months later, Toh cut off the strap and threw away the tag, which cost more than $300.

He had consumed methamphetamine shortly before Staff Sergeant Lee Jun Xiang, 28, and Special Constable Sergeant Yap Wei Xuan, 19, spotted him while patrolling around Bukit Batok Central on the evening of Sept 15 last year.

They conducted a check on Toh but he claimed he did not have his wallet with him, before eventually giving them his brother's details.

Toh gave the wrong date of birth, and when the officers tried to search him, he became aggressive and fled.

The policemen caught up with him and when they tried to subdue him, he flung Sgt Yap's arm away, dislocating it, then punched Staff Sgt Lee in the face.

Passers-by went to the officers' aid and helped to subdue Toh.

For assaulting a policeman, Toh could have been jailed for up to seven years and fined or caned.