A man assaulted his girlfriend and held a lit cigarette against her cheek, after claiming that she had embarrassed him at a dinner with his friends.

Sri Murugan Subramaniam also threatened his godsister with a chopper, hurled abuse at a policeman, and smashed seven flower pots.

Yesterday, the 44-year-old unemployed man was sentenced to eight months in jail for causing hurt to Ms Radika Rajavarma, 31, and fined $4,000 for mischief and abusing a senior station inspector.

A district court heard that Murugan had confronted his godsister, Madam Milah, 34, at her home on Feb 21 this year. He also threatened her with a chopper.

He felt that she had badmouthed him in front of his girlfriend, which led to the two of them breaking up.

He also pointed the chopper at Madam Milah's eldest child, aged 16, and threatened to harm her.

This caused Madam Milah's four other children to cry, as they were frightened by his actions, said Assistant Public Prosecutor Lim Yu Hui.

Murugan also used the chopper to hit the victim's mobile phone, cracking the screen.

In another case, he returned home after dinner with Ms Radika and his friends on March 15. He accused her of embarrassing him earlier at the dinner, and punched her in the face.

He assaulted her again later, and also held a lit cigarette against her right cheek. She was given seven days' medical leave for her injuries.

On March 31, Ms Radika was on her way home after fetching her children, when she met Murugan at the void deck of her block.

He was unhappy with her for uploading a picture of her ex-husband on Facebook, and they quarrelled.

She returned home and locked the door, refusing to let him in, despite Murugan threatening her. He then smashed seven flower pots belonging to her mother.

When the police arrived, they found him asleep on a sofa outside a flat one floor below. He denied smashing the flower pots and hurled abuse at the policeman who handcuffed him.

The policeman warned Murugan to stop, but he continued.

Murugan, who committed the March offences while on court bail for threatening Ms Radika, has had violence-related convictions. His jail sentence was backdated to April 2.