SINGAPORE - A waiter who had gotten into a row with a jobless man washed blood off his hands and returned to work following a fatal attack on him.

Shawalludin Sa'adon, 28, was on Monday (Nov 26) sentenced to 5½ years' jail and ordered to be given six strokes of the cane.

He had pleaded guilty in September to causing grievous hurt to Mr Satheesh Kumar Manogaran, 34, who later died of stab wounds.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Andre Chong told the court that the two men had an argument over a liquor bottle that had been placed on the floor at about 4.30am on March 12 last year.

To defuse the situation, Shawalludin's supervisors at Postbar at St James Power Station told the waiter to step out of the premises.

Feeling aggrieved, Shawalludin complained to fellow secret society member Muhammad Hisham Hassan about Mr Satheesh and his friend Naveen Lal Pillar, 29.

Hisham, 28, a former assistant restaurant manager, and two others - gang member and part-time mover Muhammad Khalid Kamarudin, 22, and Muhammad Faizal Md Jamal, 23, who was serving his national service at the time - arrived at Postbar at around 5.30am.

There, Shawalludin pointed out Mr Satheesh to the trio. Hisham left the group to make some calls.

Later, as Mr Satheesh's group was about to get into a private-hire car, Shawalludin, Khalid and Faizal approached them.

Khalid, who had a knife, punched Mr Satheesh, DPP Chong said. Court documents stated that he also stabbed the older man in the forehead, back of the head and back.

Shawalludin and Faizal joined in, raining blows on Mr Satheesh, said the DPP. The trio also attacked Mr Naveen.

Defence lawyer Mato Kotwani told the court that his client was unaware that Khalid had the knife before the stabbing occurred.

After the attack, Khalid and Faizal left in a taxi while Shawalludin went back to his workplace. Police arrested Shawalludin when he returned to his Marsiling Road home.

Khalid, meanwhile, contacted and told another gang member Muhd Firdaus Abdullah, 20, that he had stabbed somebody and needed shelter. Firdaus, who was then serving his NS, told Khalid and Faizal to go to his brother's flat in Aljunied.

At around 10am, Firdaus phoned Hisham, who said the group should go to his godmother's flat in Yishun. Firdaus, Khalid and Hisham were arrested there at around 8pm the next day. Court documents do not indicate where Faizal was then.

On May 30, Firdaus was sentenced to six years and two months' jail and ordered to receive five strokes of the cane. He had pleaded guilty in April to one count each of harbouring an alleged murderer, failing to report for his NS duties as well as possessing, consuming and trafficking drugs.

Hisham was sentenced to 18 months' jail on Jan 2 for harbouring Khalid. The cases involving Khalid and Faizal are still pending.

For causing grievous hurt, Shawalludin could have been jailed for up to 10 years and fined or caned.