UPSET that he had been placed in a padded cell after being arrested, a man with a violent disposition tore up the floor lining and smeared his faeces on the walls.

It was the same story three weeks later at another cell in the Institute of Mental Health (IMH), where Low Ser Lai had subsequently been remanded for psychiatric assessment.

He damaged the fan, stained the walls with his excrement and assaulted four security guards who came to check on him.

One of them needed stitches for a head wound and three days of medical leave.

On Friday, Low, who has a history of violence-related convictions dating back to 1977, was sentenced to 10 years’ preventive detention – a penalty reserved for recalcitrant offenders.

The former part-time cleaner, 57, admitted to committing 17 offences this year, the first of which came in January shortly after his release from a 10-year corrective training stint.

Besides hurting the IMH guards, Low’s crimes, carried out on six different occasions, also included disorderly behaviour and the use of criminal force against police officers.

The court heard Low wound up in the first cell on Aug 12 after he caused a scene outside Hong Wen Primary School, where he was then working.

On Aug 12, he tried but was prevented by the security guard from giving sweets to arriving students. Low stood on the road to block traffic in retaliation, and refused to cooperate with the police officers that were called in. — The Straits Times / Asia News Network