Public Prosecutor v Ririn Arindy Rizk Rahayu

• Jurisdiction: Singapore
• Judge: Salina Bte Ishak
• Judgment Date: 20 March 2023
• Neutral Citation: [2023] SGDC 48
• Court: District Court (Singapore)
• Docket Number: District Arrest Case No 914256 of 2022 & Ors, Magistrate’s Appeal No 9042-2023-01
• Hearing Date: 27 February 2023,06 March 2023
• Citation: [2023] SGDC 48
• Year: 2023
• Plaintiff Counsel: Lim Hian Teck and Yap Poh Huat Jimmy (Criminal Investigations Department)
• Defendant Counsel: Chloe Chen and Joshua Tong (Kalco Law LLC)
• Published date: 25 March 2023

District Judge Salina Bte Ishak:Background

The accused, Madam Ririn Arindy Rizk Rahayu, a 43-year-old female Singapore Permanent Resident had pleaded guilty to the following three charges and admitted to the Statement of Facts without any qualification:

DAC-914256-2022

1st Charge

you, on 26 March 2022 at or about 1.30 p.m., at the signalized cross junction of Pasir Ris Drive 1 and Pasir Ris Drive 6, Singapore, did drive a motorcar bearing the registration number SJM6937X, in a manner which was dangerous to the public, having regard to all the circumstances of the case, including the nature, condition and use of the road, and the amount of traffic which is actually at the time on the road, to wit, by failing to conform to the traffic red light signal at the mentioned junction while travelling along Pasir Ris Drive 1 towards Loyang Avenue, negotiating a left turn into Pasir Ris Drive 6 towards Pasir Ris Close, hence mounted the left kerb, collided onto a tree, which it continued to veer to the right and collided onto stationary motor van bearing the registration number GBF8953S and motorcar bearing the registration number SMM6830J, the impact caused motorcar bearing the registration number SMM6830J to move backwards and collided onto motorcar bearing the registration number SMW4663K, who were all stationary along the opposite direction due to red light signal and causing hurt to one motorcar driver namely Quek Jiang Shen (male/ 36 years old), by such driving, and you have thereby committed an offence of Dangerous Driving Causing Hurt under Section 64(1) of the Road Traffic Act, 1961, punishable under Section 64(2B)(a) of Road Traffic Act, 1961.

DAC-914257-2022

2nd charge

are charged that on 26 March 2022 at or about 1.30 p.m., at the signalised cross junction of Pasir Ris Drive 1 and Pasir Ris Drive 6, Singapore, did drive a motorcar bearing the registration number SJM6937X, on a road when you were not the holder of Class 3 driving license and you have thereby committed an offence under Section 35(1) and punishable under Section 35(3)(a) of the Road Traffic Act, 1961.

DAC-9142528-2022

3rd charge

are charged that on 26 March 2022 at or about 1.30 p.m., at the signalised cross junction of Pasir Ris Drive 1 and Pasir Ris Drive 6, Singapore, being the driver of motorcar bearing the registration number SJM6937X, whilst there was not in force in relation to the use of the said vehicle by you, such a policy of insurance or such a security in respect of third-party risks that complies with the requirements of the Motor Vehicles (Third-Party Risks and Compensation) Act, 1960, and you have thereby contravened Section 3(1) punishable under Section 3(2) and Section 3(3) of the Act.

The remaining charge in DAC-914259-2022 for taking and driving away a motorcar without the owner’s consent under s 96(1) of the Road Traffic Act 1961 (“RTA”) was taken into consideration for the purpose of sentence. After considering the Prosecution’s submissions on sentence and the accused’s written plea in mitigation, I sentenced the accused as follows:

S/No	Charge No.	Sentence
1	DAC-914256-2022	$4,000 in default 15 days’ imprisonment and disqualified from holding or obtaining all classes of driving licences for a period of 2 years.
2	DAC-914257-2022	Six weeks’ imprisonment and disqualified from holding or obtaining all classes of driving licences for a period of 3 years with effect from date of release.
3	DAC-914258-2022	$800 in default two days’ imprisonment and disqualified from holding or obtaining all classes of driving licences for a period of 12 months with effect from date of conviction.
	Total:	Six weeks’ imprisonment and fine of $4,800 in default 17 days’ imprisonment and disqualified from holding or obtaining all classes of driving licences for a period of 3 years with effect from date of release.

The accused sought a deferment of the sentence until 13 March 2023 and an extension was granted for her to pay the fine on her surrender date ie 13 March 2023.

The accused, being dissatisfied with my decision has since filed her Notice of Appeal against sentence on 3 March 2023. She is presently on bail pending the hearing of her appeal. A stay of the payment of the fine as well as on the imprisonment term was ordered pending the hearing of her appeal.

Having set out the background for the present case, I now provide the reasons for my decision.

Salient Facts

The accused was the driver of motorcar bearing the registration number SJM6937X at the time of the accident.

The victims

The first victim is Mr Edward Gan Yong Ming, a Malaysian male Chinese, aged 27. He was the driver of motor van bearing the registration number GBF8953S, at the time of the accident. The second victim is Mr Quek Jiang Shen, a Singaporean male Chinese, aged 36. He was the driver of motorcar bearing the registration number SMM6830J at the time of the accident. The third victim is Mr Lim Wee Lian, a Singaporean male Chinese, aged 47. He was the driver of motorcar bearing the registration number SMW4663K, at the time of the accident.

The involved party

The involved party is Mr Poh Eng Cheong, a Singaporean male Chinese, aged 64. He is the owner of motorcar bearing the registration number SJM6937X and the husband of the accused, at the time of the accident.

Facts of Case

On 26 March 2022 at or about 1.30pm, at the signalised cross junction of Pasir Ris Drive 1 and Pasir Ris Drive 6, Singapore, the accused did drive a motorcar bearing the registration number SJM6937X, in a manner which was dangerous to the public, having regard to all the circumstances of the case, including the nature, condition and use of the road, and the amount of traffic which is actually at the time on the road, to wit, by failing to conform to the traffic red light signal at the mentioned junction while travelling along Pasir Ris Drive 1 towards Loyang Avenue, negotiating a left turn into Pasir Ris Drive 6 towards Pasir Ris Close, hence mounted the left kerb, collided onto a tree, which it continued to veer to the right and collided onto stationary motor van bearing the registration number GBF8953S and motorcar bearing the registration number SMM6830J. The impact caused motorcar bearing the registration number SMM6830J to move backwards and collided onto motorcar bearing the registration number SMW4663K, who were all stationary along the opposite direction due to red light signal and hurt was caused to the second victim by such driving.

The accused admitted that she did not have enough sleep on the day of accident. She had slept late at about 2:00 to 3:00am on 26 March 2022 as she was working. At about 6.30am she prayed and went back to sleep, waking up at 8:00am on the same day.

Video Footage

The accused’s in-car camera footages were retrieved and it captured the accident. It shows that the accused was travelling along Pasir Ris Drive 1 towards Loyang Avenue, on lane 3 of a 3-lane road and while approaching the signalised cross junction of Pasir Ris Drive 6, the accused made a left turn into Pasir Ris Drive 6 towards Pasir Ris Close on red traffic light signal.

After the accused completed the left turn, her motorcar continued to veer to the left, eventually mounted the left kerb and collided onto a tree at the pavement.

It then continued to veer towards the right cutting across 2 lanes, mounted across the centre divider and collided onto the first victim’s motor van.

The impact caused the first victim’s motor van to shift to the left. The accused’s motorcar continued to move forward and collided onto the second victim’s motorcar head on. The impact caused the second victim’s motorcar to move backwards and collided onto the third victim’s motor car.

The victims were all stationary along Pasir Ris Drive 6 towards Pasir Ris Street 11 on the right most right lane due to red light signal at the signalised cross junction ahead.

The third victim’s in-car camera footages were retrieved and it captured the accident. It shows that the third victim’s motor car was stationary along Pasir Ris Drive 6 towards Pasir Ris Street 11, on lane 1 of a 3 lanes road, behind the second victim’s motorcar. The accused had lost control of the motorcar, mounted the left kerb and collided onto a tree before it veered to the right to collide onto the first victim and onto the second victim.

The impact on the second victim’s motor car to move backwards and collided onto the third victim’s motor car.

Injuries

The second victim was diagnosed with minor head injury and neck contusion and was hospitalised on 26 March 2022. He was discharged on 27 March 2022 with 4 days of medical leave. The accused, the first victim and the third victim were not injured.

Vehicle Damage

The first victim’s motor van had scratches on its right rear tyre area. Full restitution of the cost of damage of $2,990 was paid by the involved party. The second victim’s motorcar’s front right portion of its headlamp was cracked and its rear portion was dented. The cost of repairs was $13,483.33. The third victim’s motorcar’s front middle portion had minor scratches. The estimated cost of repairs was $12,349.84.

The front portion of the motorcar driven by the accused was dented inwards with cracks.

The accused admitted that she took the car key from inside the involved party’s pants pocket without the involved party’s knowledge and consent and drove the motorcar SJM6937X alone to Pasir Ris Sports Hall market with intention to buy some food. After getting the food, the accused was driving back home when she got involved in the accident.

Further investigation and screening revealed that the accused was not a holder of Class 3 driving licence. As the accused was not a holder of a qualified class 3 Singapore driving licence at the time of the accident, there...