Public Prosecutor v Liew Yee Long

• Jurisdiction: Singapore
• Judge: Kamala Ponnampalam
• Judgment Date: 29 July 2016
• Neutral Citation: [2016] SGMC 37
• Court: Magistrates' Court (Singapore)
• Docket Number: LTA000270-2016
• Published date: 05 August 2016
• Year: 2016
• Hearing Date: 20 July 2016,16 June 2016
• Plaintiff Counsel: Lua Bee Hin
• Defendant Counsel: defendant in person at the plead guilty mention. Zaminder Singh
• Citation: [2016] SGMC 37

District Judge Kamala Ponnampalam:

This is an appeal by the Defendant against a sentence of disqualification from holding or obtaining a driving licence for all classes for a period of 12 months.

The Defendant, Liew Yee Long, 29 years old, pleaded guilty to one charge under section 29(1) of the Road Traffic Act, Chapter 276 and another charge under section 3(1) of the Motor Vehicles (Third Party Risks & Compensation) Act, Chapter 189. This appeal concerns the charge under section 3(1) of the Motor Vehicles (Third Party Risks & Compensation) Act, Chapter 189 only. That charge read as follows:

You [...] are charged that you, on 4 March 2016 at about 10.15 am, at along Bukit Batok West Avenue 8, did cause motor car no. SJG119L to be driven, when there was not in force in relation to the user of the said vehicle such a policy of insurance in respect of third party risks as complies with the requirement of the Motor Vehicles (Third Party Risks & Compensation) Act, Chapter 189 and you have thereby committed an offence under Section 3(1) and punishable under Section 3(2) of the said Act, Chapter 189.

The facts

The Defendant admitted to the Statement of Facts without qualification. It is stated that the Defendant was the registered owner of the motor car SJG119L. On 4 March 2016 at 10.15 am, along Bukit Batok West Avenue 3, the motor car was stopped for a routine check. The driver at the material point in time was the Defendant’s father, Liew Toh Peng. Upon checking, it was discovered that the vehicle was uninsured and unlicensed. The vehicle licence for the motor car had expired on 7 January 2016 and there was no vehicle licence in force on 4 March 2016. The motor car had been insured with First Capital Insurance Ltd for the period from 5 December 2014 to 7 January 2016. The motor insurance had expired on 7 January 2016. Hence on 4 March 2016, there was not in force for the motor car SJG119L, a policy of insurance in respect of third party risks which complies with the requirements of the Motor Vehicles (Third Party Risks and Compensation) Act, Cap 189.

Previous Offences

The Defendant is a first offender.

Mitigation

In mitigation, the Defendant pleaded for leniency.

Prescribed Punishment

The offence of using a motor vehicle when there is not in force in relation to the use of the vehicle a policy of insurance in respect of third party risks is punishable with a fine not exceeding $1,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months or to both. Section 3(3) of the Act further provides:

A person convicted of an offence under this section shall (unless the court for special reasons think fit to order otherwise and without prejudice to the power of the court to order a...