District Judge Soh Tze Bian:
Charges
The accused person (AP), female/26 years, pleaded guilty to a charge in MAC 5395/2013 that she, on the 15th day of March 2013 at about 7.22 a.m., along Pan Island Expressway towards Jurong near to lamp post 157, Singapore, being the driver of the motor car no. SJH 3506C, did cause the death of a passenger in the rear cabin of motor lorry no. GY 9672L, namely one MAGALINGAM RAJESH (Male/30 years old/ Indian National), by doing a negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide, to wit, by failing to exercise proper control of her vehicle, which resulted in her vehicle veering left from the centre lane to the extreme left lane and encroaching into the lane of motor lorry no. GY 9672L, which was travelling straight on the extreme left lane at the material time, and thereafter hitting her vehicle onto the rear of the said motor lorry and causing the death of the said MAGALINGAM RAJESH, and she has thereby committed an offence punishable under s 304A(b) of the Penal Code (Chapter 224, 2008 Rev. Ed.) (PC) with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 2 years, or with fine, or with both.
The AP also consented for one charge in MAC 5396/2013 of causing grievous hurt by negligent act under s 338(b) of the PC and another charge in MAC 5397/2013 of causing hurt by negligent act under s 337(b) of the PC, to be taken into consideration for the purpose of sentencing.
Statement of facts
The Statement of facts (SOF) which the AP had admitted without qualification stated as follows: Introduction The accused is Hue An Li, female/ 26 years old (Date of Birth: XX/XX/19XX) bearing NRIC No: SXXXXXXI. She was the driver of motor car SJH 3506C at the time of the accident. The deceased is Magalingam Rajesh, male/30 years old, Indian National, at the time of his death. He was the rear cabin passenger of motor lorry GY 9672L at the time of the accident. There were 11 victims who suffered injuries as a result of the accident: The 1st injured victim (“V1”) is Lee Soon Hin, male/53 years old. He was the driver of motor lorry GY 9672L at the time of accident. The 2nd injured victim (“V2”) is Sooriyamoorthy Parthipan, a male/28 years old. He was the front centre seat passenger of motor lorry GY 9672L at the time of accident. The 3rd injured victim (“V3”) is Murugan Senthil Kumar, male/28 years old. He was the front left seat passenger of motor lorry GY 9672L at the time of accident. The 4th injured victim (“V4”) is Moniruzzaman Md Sirajul Islam, male/37 years old. He was a rear cabin passenger of motor lorry GY 9672L at the time of accident. The 5th injured victim (“V5”) is Atikur Khan Joynal Abedin Khan, male/29 years old. He was a rear cabin passenger of motor lorry GY 9672L at the time of accident. The 6th injured victim (“V6”) is Israfil Md Hosen Ali Biswas, male/39 years old. He was a rear cabin passenger of motor lorry GY 9672L at the time of accident. The 7th injured victim (“V7”) is Rengasamy Bakkiyaraj, male/31 years old. He was a rear cabin passenger of motor lorry GY 9672L at the time of accident. The 8th injured victim (“V8”) is Thambiayya Saravanan, male/29 years old. He was a rear cabin passenger of motor lorry GY 9672L at the time of accident. The 9th injured victim (“V9”) is Ramachandran Senthilkumar, male/33 years old. He was a rear cabin passenger of motor lorry GY 9672L at the time of accident. The 10th injured victim (“V10”) is Pakkirisamy Manivel, male/35 years old. He was a rear cabin passenger of motor lorry GY 9672L at the time of accident. The 11th injured victim (“V11”) is Gopal Gunasekaran, male/35 years old. He was a rear cabin passenger of motor lorry GY 9672L at the time of accident. First Information Report. On the 15 March 2013 at about 7.22 am, the Police received a call stating ‘VAN AND CAR ACCIDENT 4-5 PEOPLE INJURED LYING ON THE FLOOR’. The incident location was given as Pan Island Expressway (“PIE”), near Simei Exit 4B [TAB A – First Information Report]. Facts Relating to the Proceeded Charge Investigation revealed that on 15 March 2013 at about 7.22 am, the accused was driving her motorcar SJH 3506C on the centre lane of the 3 lane expressway (PIE) towards Jurong. The motor lorry GY 9672L, driven by the first injured victim, was travelling straight on the extreme left lane at about 60-65 kmph. Somewhere near lamp post 157, the accused failed to exercise proper control of her vehicle, which would have been expected of a reasonably competent driver, and such failure resulted in her vehicle veering left and encroaching into the first injured victim’s lane, hitting the rear of the first injured victim’s motor lorry GY 9672L. Upon collision, the said motor lorry spun towards the left in an anti-clockwise direction before flipping over onto its right side. When the motor lorry flipped, all 9 of the rear cabin passengers of the motor lorry (V4-V11 and the deceased) were thrown out of the vehicle. The accused’s motorcar veered towards the right and hit the centre guard rail before coming to a stop between the extreme right and centre lane. As a result of the accident, the deceased sustained multiple injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident by paramedics. The accused and the 11 injured victims were conveyed to Changi General Hospital. At the time of accident, the weather was fine and the road surface was dry. The visibility was clear and the traffic flow was light. The footage of the accident was also captured by the in-car camera of a member of public, who was travelling a distance behind the accused’s motorcar. The footage showed the accused’s motorcar gradually veering left from the centre lane to the extreme left lane, at close proximity from the motor lorry, before colliding into the rear of the motor lorry. The said member of public did not witness the accident. Further investigations also revealed that on 15 March 2013, at about 2 to 3 a.m., the accused met up with a friend at East Coast Park. At about 6 a.m., she left East Coast Park and drove her friend to her home in Pasir Ris. Thereafter, the accused headed back to her home in Farrer Park. The accident occurred when the accused was on her way home. She was alone in the vehicle at the material time. Vehicle Damage Reports The motor lorry GY 9672L was subsequently examined and the follow damages were noted [TAB D – Vehicle Damage Report of GY 9672L]: Rear right portion smashed up and dented inwards Front windscreen ripped off Scratches found on roof Scratches on the front left portion Front right portion dented and crumpled inwards Scratches on the right side The motor car SJH 3506C was subsequently examined and the follow damages were noted: Front portion crumpled and smashed inwards Front bumper dislodged Front windscreen cracked on right portion and left portion smashed Left rear portion dented inwards Scratches on left rear portion STA Vehicle Inspection Report A mechanical inspection of the accused’s motor car was conducted by STA. After the inspection, it was concluded that [TAB F – STA Vehicle Inspection Report]: The vehicle transmission, road wheel and wheel brake systems are in serviceable condition. The brake reservoir found empty and dislodged due to impact that caused the reservoir to leak. Steering system has tested and found in good serviceable condition. There is no sign of loose steering. No other mechanical defect was found on the vehicle that could lead to the accident. Autopsy Report A post mortem was conducted on the deceased and Senior Consultant Forensic Pathologist Dr George Paul of the Health Sciences Authority (“HSA”) provided an autopsy report bearing Case Number: AZ1351-01836, certifying that the cause of death was due to multiple injuries. The injuries were consistent with being sustained in a road traffic accident. [TAB G – Autopsy Report dated 16 March 2013]. Toxicology Report On 18 March 2013, three samples of the deceased’s peripheral blood (oxalated), peripheral blood (plain) and urine were sent to the HSA Analytical Toxicology Laboratory. After analysing the samples, HSA issued a toxicology report bearing Lab No. TX-1331-01774 dated 28 March 2013 by Analyst Leong Hsiao Tung and certified that on analysis, no alcohols & volatiles, basic drugs or foreign substances were found in the three samples [TAB H – Toxicology Report dated 28 March 2013]. Injuries on Victims As a result of the accident, V1 and V11 sustained injuries. The medical reports of the 11 victims are appended collectively as TAB I. Conclusion The accused had been negligent in failing to exercise proper control of her vehicle, which resulted in her vehicle to veer left from the centre lane to the extreme left lane and encroach into the lane of motor lorry GY 9672L, which was travelling straight on the extreme left lane at the material time, and thereafter hitting her vehicle onto the rear of the said motor lorry and therefore causing the death of the deceased, and the accused has thereby committed the offence of causing death by Negligent Act under Section 304A(b) of the Penal Code (Chapter 224, 2008 Rev. Ed.).’ (emphasis mine)
Sentencing principles and considerations
I accepted the prosecution submissions that a fine does not appear to be the starting point as regards sentencing for the s 304A(b) offence and an imposition of a custodial sentence no longer seem to require one to show a “most unusual case”. The test of whether a custodial sentence should be imposed will depend on the nature and extent of culpability - the more serious the negligence, the more justification there is for the imposition of a custodial sentence. A custodial sentence will be imposed where an offender made a conscious decision to drive while drunk.
Sentencing precedents
I have carefully examined all the sentencing precedents cited, relied and/or distinguished by...
