A 32-year-old man was sentenced to four months of imprisonment, including a fine of $1,800 and was disqualified from driving all vehicles for a year on Friday, May 4. Reports stated that he not only collided with a car but also failed to provide his particulars after an accident.
The accused, Ivan Tan Chun Keng, used a dead former colleague's particulars to mislead the investigation process. He pleaded guilty in April to one count each of intentionally perverting the course of justice, failing to provide his particulars and driving without insurance.
Ivan, the operations executive had also accepted that he failed to display L-plates and was driving without a supervision of any qualified driving instructor during the accident.
The court heard that the accused was driving a borrowed car, which he received from its owner, Tan Ah Seng, on June 4, 2017. Two days later, when Ivan was driving in the Clementi Avenue 6 at around 7 am while having a provisional driving licence, he crashed the car into another vehicle, which was driven by Chua Yah Choo. But after the accident, he ran away from the location without providing his particulars to the other driver, who later lodged a police report.
Next day, to obstruct the police investigation, Ivan took the borrowed damaged car to a garage to fix the damaged parts. On June 22, when traffic police sent a notice to Tan Ah Seng to furnish the particulars of the driver involved in the collision, the owner confronted Ivan and he accepted the crime.
The Deputy Public Prosecutor Lim Jian Yi told the court that the accused attended wake of a former colleague, Low Geok Seng and then after four days he decided to Low's particulars to the police.
When police sent a letter to Low's house, his son told the officers that the accident cannot be done by his father, as he was admitted to Singapore General Hospital in May 2017 due to cancer and was bedridden at the time of the accident. Low's son also added that his father died in June last year.
However, when an investigation officer called the owner of the borrowed car, on August 7, 2017, he told them that it was Ivan, who was driving his car. Officers detained Ivan on the next day and he accepted the offences.
The accused is out on bail of $15,000, as he had to settle some personal matters before his jail sentence. He was asked to surrender on May 11 at the State Court.
Under Singapore Motor Vehicles (Third-Party Risks and Compensation) Act if someone found driving a motor vehicle without insurance coverage will be guilty of an offence and liable upon conviction to a fine of up to S$1,000, imprisonment for up to 3 months, or both.
As per Singapore Penal Code, whoever intentionally obstructs, prevents, perverts or defeats the course of justice shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 7 years, or with fine, or with both.
