SINGAPORE - A night of drinking turned violent for a man after he insulted and punched his mother before threatening a police officer with a knife.

Pravin Pulanthiradas, 25, who was under the influence of alcohol, then withstood a shot from the officer’s Taser gun before becoming incapacitated from a second shot.

On April 30, Pravin was sentenced to five months and eight weeks in jail after pleading guilty to one charge of causing hurt and another of criminal intimidation.

A charge of harassment was taken into consideration during his sentencing.

In his mitigation, Pravin said he regretted his decision to pick up the bottle that night due to stress.

In response, Deputy Principal District Judge Kessler Soh said: “If drinking is the problem, you have to deal with that problem.

“After you finish your sentence, you do not go back to drinking and offending. That’s the way you can help yourself.”

The prosecution said that Pravin, his younger sister, 23, and mother, 58, were at home sometime after 9pm on Feb 14. The two women were in a bedroom together.

At around 10pm, Pravin was heard shouting in the living room. About 30 minutes later, he violently opened the door of the bedroom to confront his sister before hurling vulgarities at his mother.

Court documents did not mention why Pravin was confronting his sister. Investigations revealed he was intoxicated with alcohol by this time.

His mother stepped between him and his sister to protect her. Pravin then threw a punch at his mother, which hit her left cheek.

His sister pushed him out of the room and locked the door before calling the police for help.

Senior Staff Sergeant (SSS) Chua Jun Jie and Sergeant Mohammad Anis, who were dispatched to the family’s flat, arrived at 10.40pm and found the front door and gate open.

Pravin was sitting alone in the living room. SSS Chua entered the flat to check on the two women who were still in the locked bedroom.

Pravin, who was holding a kitchen knife, stood up suddenly as SSS Chua walked past him, which caused the officer to push him away.

The officer fired the first Taser shot at Pravin, who was advancing towards him while swinging the knife. But Pravin pulled out the Taser probes from his body and ran towards SSS Chua, the court heard.

Sgt Anis then fired his Taser at Pravin, causing him to fall to the ground.

In previous cases of violence against parents, a 16-year-old boy was sentenced to two years’ probation on Feb 5 after assaulting his mother multiple times, including fracturing her rib in one attack. His father, who witnessed the attacks, did not intervene.

On Dec 12, 2023, a 58-year-old man suffering from schizophrenia attacked his mother, 78, and broke her nose. He was sentenced to seven months’ jail.