A 43-year-old Singaporean man was sentenced to eight years, six months and three weeks' jail and six strokes of the cane on Dec 23 after pleading guilty to assaulting his estranged wife, as well as three other drug-related charges, the Straits Times reported.
On July 1 last year, he punched his wife in the head at his children's primary school after she brought up a previous incident where he had threatened to throw his daughter from the 10th storey of a block of flats.
That day, the man went to his children's primary school to look for them, accompanied by two of his siblings.
At the time, he and his wife were already separated and were in the process of divorcing.
After his daughter told a school counsellor that she did not want to see him, one of the school's vice-principals called his wife to inform her.
The woman asked the school to stop the man from seeing their children, a nine-year-old girl and a 12-year-old boy, and went to the school shortly to meet him in the principal's office.
The school's two vice-principals and the counsellor were also present to facilitate the meeting.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Zhou Yihong told the court: "During the conversation, the victim mentioned that the accused had not contributed anything for their children, and brought up a past incident involving the accused wanting to throw their daughter down from the 10th floor."
"In response, the accused became agitated. He stood up, lurched forward towards the victim and... punched the victim on the right side of her head," Zhou continued.
The court also heard that the incident with his daughter occurred in June 2017.
The reason for his actions was not revealed in court.
The counsellor and vice-principals had to intervene between the couple. The woman proceeded to call the police.
The woman later sought medical assistance at Woodlands Polyclinic for injuries to her scalp.
For the offence of assault, the man could have been jailed for up to two years and fined up to $5,000.
However, nine other charges, mainly for drug-related offences, were also considered during sentencing.
Details about the couple and the school cannot be revealed to protect the identities of the two children.
In a separate court hearing, the man admitted to consuming drugs, including methamphetamine, in April and June this year.
The penalty for consuming controlled or specified drugs is up to 10 years of jail, a fine of up to $20,000, or both.
Repeat consumption of specified drugs such as methamphetamine may result in three to six strokes of the cane and at least five to seven years' imprisonment.
qistina@asiaone.com