Jail for dad who breached personal protection orders, assaulted family and threatened to kill son
A father breached personal protection orders (PPOs) filed against him to protect his family, and assaulted his wife and two children on multiple occasions while he was drunk.
He struck his son's back multiple times with a padlock on one occasion and told him he would not stop until the boy was dead.
On Thursday (Jan 20), the Singaporean man, 54, pleaded guilty to five charges for offences that include voluntarily causing hurt against his family and was jailed for six months and two weeks and fined $1,000.
Nine other charges that include similar offences were taken into consideration during his sentencing.
The offender and his family cannot be named as his daughter, now 17, is covered under the Children and Young Persons Act.
The court heard that the father had two PPOs against him that restrained him from using violence against his wife, 50, and his children.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Chin Jincheng noted that the mother, an Indian national, and the daughter were close to the man and frequently contacted him.
At 7am on April 26, 2020, the man visited his family's home while he was drunk and argued with his wife and daughter.
He grabbed a knife from the kitchen, placed it on his wrist and threatened to kill himself, causing distress to his wife and daughter, said DPP Chin.
He struck his wife's arm and his daughter's face after the girl asked him to leave.
A month later on May 17, he was drunk again when he visited and demanded money from his son, now 21. When his son refused, the man pushed him and grabbed a pair of scissors from the kitchen, but did not use it to attack him.
His daughter called the police for help when the man went to the void deck to cool off.
The son had a scratch on his neck but did not seek medical attention.
On March 17 last year, the man went to his family's unit at 6.15am while he was drunk and again quarrelled with his son and hit him several times on his upper body.
He shoved his son and used a padlock to hit his back multiple times, while repeatedly threatening to kill him, saying: "I will not stop until I killed (sic) you."
He left after his wife and daughter urged him to calm down and separated him from his son.
But the man soon returned and slapped and punched his wife's face as she tried to block his attacks. He struck his daughter's face when she shouted at him to stop. He then left the flat.
The son and the mother were in pain after the assaults but did not seek medical attention, said DPP Chin, who urged the judge to sentence the man to six months and two weeks in jail with a fine.
In his submissions, he said the man had a history of offences that include robbery, causing hurt with a weapon and breaching PPOs issued on several occasions.
"He assaulted three members of his family despite two personal protection orders," said DPP Chin.
"There is clear public interest in deterring acts of family violence... this is because they constitute an abuse of the bonds of trust and interdependency that exist between family members," said the DPP.
The man's jail sentence was backdated to Dec 4, 2021 to account for his time in remand. He will spend an additional four days in jail as he is unable to pay the $1,000 fine.
Those who voluntarily cause hurt can face a maximum sentence of three years in jail and a fine of $5,000.
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