Jail for man who threatened to kill baby in tiff with wife
A man who got into a tiff with his wife threatened to kill their baby daughter if the housewife left their flat.
The man, who was working as a mover at the time, slapped his wife’s face twice during the dispute.
The woman then left the baby behind and ran to her mother’s flat at another block nearby.
The mother-in-law asked him to hand over the little girl, but he refused to do so, prompting the older woman to alert the police. The child’s age was not disclosed in court documents.
Officers arrived at the scene soon after and the baby, who had no visible injuries, was handed over to her grandmother.
The 24-year-old man was sentenced to three months’ jail on March 21 after he pleaded guilty to one count each of assault and criminal intimidation.
He also admitted to an unrelated offence under the Computer Misuse Act.
He cannot be named to protect the identity of his daughter under the Children and Young Persons Act.
Assistant Public Prosecutor Chye Jer Yuan said that the man married his 21-year-old wife on March 19, 2023, and they have a baby girl together.
The infant was sleeping in their rental flat on May 14, 2023, when she told her husband to “shut up” as he was talking loudly on his phone in their bedroom.
Unhappy, the man retrieved a knife from the kitchen, held the blunt side of the weapon against his wife’s throat and threatened to cut her.
Subsequently, he flung the knife to the floor, grabbed his wife’s throat, and pushed her head towards the window grilles. He then took the baby to the living room.
The woman told him that she wanted to take their daughter to her mother’s flat.
After that, she picked up the same knife and told him that she would cut her hand if he refused to let her take her daughter.
The woman used to weapon to cut her left forearm when her husband said that he did not care.
The APP told the court: “Upon seeing this, the accused came over and grabbed the knife before throwing it onto the sofa.
“The accused stopped the victim when she tried to (take) the baby out of the (flat) and told her, ‘I will kill the baby if you ever leave the house’. Both continued to argue...and the accused slapped the victim’s face twice.”
At around 1pm, his wife fled to her mother’s home and the older woman shouted across to the opposite block where the man was living. The older woman asked him to hand over the little girl, but he refused.
The baby was later placed under a Child Protective Service safety plan. As part of it, she will not live with her father and an appointed guardian must supervise all access to her.
In an unrelated case, the man told investigators that one of his friends, known only as “Sam”, had approached him and asked if he wanted to set up an audio company.
According to the offender, Sam wanted to register the firm under the offender’s name and asked for information such as his Singpass details in exchange for $1,050.
The offender later received the amount after he shared the information with Sam, who opened a bank account under the offender’s name.
It was active from Nov 12 to 17, 2021. Within that time, over $176,000 was credited into the account and more than $175,000 from the amount was debited from it.
Court documents did not disclose the source of these monies.
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