Indian-origin man jailed for assaulting two in Singapore

An Indian-origin man, who was acknowledged last year for turning around his life of crime, was sent back to jail on Friday for assaulting a taxi driver and his own cousin a few years ago.

Banquet waiter Sarbir Singh, 26, admitted last month to beating a taxi driver at the carpark of the Singapore Flyer at Raffles Avenue, on October 24, 2012. He also confessed to causing grievous hurt to his cousin at a corridor outside her Shunfu Road home in Singapore on October 24, 2013, The Straits Times reported.

In Friday's sentencing of 20 months' jail, the judge hearing the case commended Singh's effort to turn his life around from the time he was first charged.

"I am persuaded that he genuinely wants to change for the better, and will accordingly give some weight to this. The accused had done wrong, and it is now the time for him to face the music and be punished for the offences," the judge said.

The court heard that Singh, then a 23-year-old Temasek Polytechnic student, and his wife on Octover 24, 2012 asked a taxi driver if he accepted payment by Nets -- Singapore's e-payments provider. The driver denied it in a way which Singh thought was rude.

In a fit of anger, Singh, after a heated argument, beat the driver and walked away.

Exactly a year later, the court heard, Singh went to his cousin's flat to look for his wife. He did not believe his cousin when she told him that his wife was not with her and barged into the house. He beat her causing multiple facial fractures.

Singh was acknowledged during last year's Singapore National Day for turning his life of crime around and completing a law and management course at Temasek Polytechnic.