A jobless man who raped and robbed a woman at knifepoint as she made her way home was sentenced to 14 years in jail and 24 strokes of the cane on Wednesday.

Tan Jun Hui, 30, pleaded guilty in the High Court last week to one charge each of armed robbery, aggravated rape and attempted aggravated sexual assault.

In the early hours of Nov 16, 2010, he saw the woman, a 21-year-old civil servant, at the lift lobby of her block of flats in the western part of Singapore. He decided to rob her and took a 21cm-long knife from his car.

Before the lift door closed, Tan dashed in with the woman. When the lift reached the second floor, where she lived, she was about to walk out but Tan pulled her back in. She handed over some $200 after he threatened her with the knife. At the ninth floor, he dragged her to a staircase and robbed her of her two mobile phones. Tan tried to force her to perform oral sex on him but she resisted. He then raped her at the staircase landing.