SINGAPORE- A 32-year-old man who hit his wife over a two-year period has been sentenced to 10 weeks in jail.

Appearing before a district court on Monday (Oct 18), the delivery driver pleaded guilty to a charge of assaulting his wife, and another of acting rashly to cause hurt to his then eight-year-old stepson by pushing him out of a van.

Three other charges, including one of hitting and pushing his wife, causing her to lose consciousness, were taken into consideration during sentencing.

His 26-year-old wife, three stepchildren and daughter were in the public gallery on Monday.

The man cannot be named due to a gag order to protect the identities of his wife and the children, who were aged between two and eight at the time of the offences.

He was represented by lawyer Amarick Gill, who urged the court to impose a jail term of nine to 10 weeks, saying his client had made amends with his wife.

The wife had submitted a letter in support of him.

"He's on the straight and narrow, and has calmed himself a great deal from his anger management issues," said Mr Gill, adding that his client would be open to anger management training.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Chee Ee Ling, who sought a jail term of 10 to 13 weeks for the man, said in response that the victim's forgiveness was not a mitigating factor.

The court heard that on March 4 last year at about 11.30pm, the wife was sleeping in the bedroom when she was woken up by two slaps on her face.

She saw the man glaring angrily at her and asked him why he slapped her.

He replied that he felt unappreciated.

The man then spat in her face, pushed her off the bed and slapped her repeatedly on her face. He then pulled her hair and dragged her out of the bedroom while punching and kicking her.

The assault lasted 15 to 20 minutes.

The woman then escaped to her daughter's room and remained there until the man left for work at about 4am.

That morning, she went to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital and was found to have suffered bruising on her face, arms and right knee. An X-ray examination revealed no broken bones, and she was given two days of medical leave.

"The accused had been assaulting (his wife) ever since they got married. (She) never reported these assaults as she was fearful of the accused and concerned for her children's safety," said DPP Chee.

On a separate occasion, some time between September 2018 and the following year, as the children were alighting from a van that the man drove, the eight-year-old boy pushed one of his younger sisters out of the van.

The man got angry and pushed the boy out of the van, causing him to fall and suffer a bruise on his chin.

The man began serving his sentence on Monday.