Upset that his girlfriend ignored him, a Singaporean man brandished a 28cm chopper and brought it near her neck, threatening to "slice" and "chop" her.

Muhammad Anuar Aman, 37, wanted to teach his girlfriend, 29, a lesson for being "rude".

Anuar's wife, 42, who was also home at the time of the incident, and had watched them argue, intervened and pushed her husband away from his girlfriend.

Anuar pleaded guilty to one count of criminal intimidation and was sentenced to seven weeks in jail on Nov. 10, reported CNA.

Other charges of voluntarily causing hurt, and intentionally causing harassment or distress were also taken into consideration.

Angered after victim ignored him

The incident occurred on Oct. 10, when Anuar, his wife, and his girlfriend — the victim, were at his flat.

The court heard that a "heated argument" started after the victim ignored Anuar when he was speaking to her.

He then slapped the victim's face and went into the kitchen, bringing out a chopper.

He held it near her neck and threatened to "slice" and "chop" her.

The prosecutor said the victim could only cry and did not react as she feared for her safety.

Anuar's wife intervened to deescalate the situation by pushing her husband away. He then left the flat.

Victim told social worker

Two days later, the victim met up with a social worker to discuss financial assistance.

During their conversation, she told the social worker about the incident with her boyfriend.

The social worker then called the police emergency hotline to inform the authorities that Anuar slapped her client and threatened her with a knife.

She also told them that Anuar’s wife had previously been physically abused.

Court documents showed that he had also threatened his girlfriend to drag her one-year-old daughter off the bed by her legs, which became the subject of the other charge taken into consideration, CNA reported.

Anuar, who was at home, was later arrested on the same day the report was made.

Regrets action and pleaded for leniency

Anuar appeared in court on Nov. 10 via video-link from his place of remand and spoke through a Malay interpreter.

He pleaded for leniency, saying that he would spend his entire life regretting his actions and would not repeat them.

The prosecution sought for an imprisonment of between seven and nine weeks, emphasising the use of weapon and Anuar's guilty plea.

Subsequently, the judge said he took into consideration Anuar’s early plea of guilt and applied the appropriate sentencing discount, which was backdated to his date of arrest on Oct. 12.

For criminal intimidation, Anuar could have been jailed up to two years, fined or both.

Criminal intimidation to cause death or grievous hurt can carry a harsher punishment of up to 10 years’ imprisonment, or fine or both.

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