Public Prosecutor v Sim Ju Kuan

• Jurisdiction: Singapore
• Judge: Ronald Gwee Tiong Kee
• Judgment Date: 22 March 2005
• Neutral Citation: [2005] SGDC 72
• Court: District Court (Singapore)
• Year: 2005
• Published date: 29 March 2005
• Plaintiff Counsel: Lua Bee Hin (LTA)
• Defendant Counsel: Accused in person
• Subject Matter: Criminal Law,Statutory offences,Driving a lorry without valid registration, licence and insurance coverage,Criminal Procedure and Sentencing,Sentencing,Disqualification from driving,Disqualification likely to severely affect accused's livelihood or even take it away, or place accused's family in financial difficulties,Whether such circumstances amounted to reasons special to the facts which constituted the offence,Whether accused should be disqualified from driving,Tariff for period of disqualification
• Citation: [2005] SGDC 72

22 March 2005

District Judge Ronald Gwee

1. The accused, Sim Ju Kuan (“Sim”), pleaded guilty to 4 charges relating to a motor lorry, licence number YG 8679 G (“lorry”). In summary, the 4 charges stated that Sim had used the lorry after the registration of the lorry had been cancelled, and when there was no valid vehicle licence and no requisite insurance coverage for the lorry, and had as the director of Luxuriant Landscape Nursery Pte Ltd (“Luxuriant”) kept the lorry for which there was no valid vehicle licence.

2. Sim understood the nature of the charges he faced. He pleaded guilty to the 4 charges and understood the nature and consequences of his plea. The Statement of Facts (“SOF”) was read out to Sim. Sim admitted to the facts in the SOF without qualification. I convicted Sim of the 4 charges, on his plea of guilt. The Prosecution stated that Sim had no antecedents. After hearing Sim’s mitigation plea, I imposed a fine of $600 for each of the 4 charges. In addition, as I found that there were no “special reasons” shown in Sim’s case, I was compelled to impose a disqualification order against Sim for the 3^rd charge. The 3^rd charge was for failing to have the requisite insurance coverage as required by the Motor Vehicles (Third-Party Risks and Compensation) Act (“MV Act”), an offence punishable under Section 3(2) of the MV Act. Section 3(3) of the MV Act provides that a person convicted of an offence under that section “shall (unless the court for special reasons thinks fit to order otherwise and without prejudice to the power of the court to order a longer period of disqualification) be disqualified for holding or obtaining a driving licence under the Road Traffic Act (Cap. 276) for a period of 12 months from the date of the conviction”.

3. The court has the power to order a longer period of disqualification. Once the court finds that no special reasons had been shown, a minimum period of 12 months had to be considered. The tariff period of disqualification for a conviction under Section 3 of the MV Act is between 12 to 18 months, for a first offender, pleading guilty at the mentions stage. After considering all the circumstances, and Sim’s mitigation plea, I ordered that Sim be disqualified from holding or obtaining a driving licence for a period of 15 months. Sim filed a Notice of Appeal, against only the disqualification order.

4. The SOF stated that the complainant was SSgt Tan Jit Cheng, attached to the Enforcement Unit of the Land Transport Authority. On 2 July 2004 at 10.55 am, SSgt Tan had stopped Sim, who was driving the lorry along Woodlands Road. The registration of the lorry had been cancelled on 14 June 2004. The vehicle licence of the lorry had expired on 14 June 2003. There was no requisite insurance coverage for the lorry on 2 July 2004. The first 3 charges had been made out. In addition, the SOF also stated that Luxuriant was the registered owner of the lorry, and that Sim was a director of Luxuriant. Thus Sim (who was driving the lorry) was also guilty of possessing the lorry when there was no valid vehicle licence in force for the lorry (the 4^th charge).

5. In his oral mitigation plea, Sim said that he regretted committing the offences. The...