Public Prosecutor v Sylvester Lee Kao Chong

• Judge: Liew Thiam Leng
• Judgment Date: 22 December 2011
• Neutral Citation: [2011] SGDC 429
• Citation: [2011] SGDC 429
• Docket Number: MAC No 13904-5 of 2011
• Published date: 23 December 2011
• Hearing Date: 09 December 2011,08 December 2011
• Plaintiff Counsel: Lee Zu Zhao, Deputy Public Prosecutor
• Defendant Counsel: Accused(Appellant in person)
• Court: District Court (Singapore)

District Judge Liew Thiam Leng:

The accused pleaded guilty to a charge under section 304A(b) of the Penal Code (Cap.224) without any qualification. A second charge under section 337(b) of the Penal Code (Cap.224) was taken into consideration for the purpose of sentencing. The prosecution is appealing against the sentence imposed. CHARGE MAC No 13904/2011 [Exhibit C1] You, Sylvester Lee Kao Chong, Male 41 years NRIC: S7030217I are charged that you, on the 26th day of March 2011, at about 9.59p.m., along Upper Serangoon Road, Singapore, being the driver of motor car bearing registration number SGA8826T, did cause the death of a pedestrian, one Pyie Phyo Swe (male/ aged 31 years old), by doing a negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide, to wit, by failing to keep a proper lookout while reversing the said motor car along Upper Serangoon Road and thereby resulting in a collision with the said pedestrian, who was crossing from the right to left side along the said road, which resulted in the death of the said pedestrian, and you have thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 304A(b) of the Penal Code, Chapter 224.

FACTS

The accused is Sylvester Lee Kao Chong, Male/ 41 years old, Singaporean He works as a contractor. At the material time, he was the driver of the motor car SGA 8826T.

The deceased is Phyie Phyo Swe, Male/31 years old, Myanmar National. He was a Project Engineer at the material time.

The victim is Lin Nandar Hn, Female/30 years old, Myanmar Nation. She is the wife of the deceased.

On the 26 March 2011 at about 9.59pm, one Mr Ng called “999” informing, “I just witness a car reverse and hit a pedestrian. The guy is on the road and is bleeding”. The incident location given was at Upper Serangoon Road, near Lorong Batawi near Hougang Plaza

Investigation revealed that on 26 March 2011, at about 9.59 p.m., the accused, was driving his motor vehicle (SGA 8826T) along Upper Serangoon Road towards the direction of Serangoon Road. The accused was driving along the extreme left lane of the 3-lane carriageway road. The accused was on his way to a company, Morning Star which is located along Upper Serangoon Road.

Investigations also revealed that when the accused arrived at the entrance of the Singapore Institute of Commerce (“SIC”), he realized that the gate was closed. The accused then decided to reverse his vehicle with the intention of reversing far enough to turn left to enter Lorong Batawi which has an alternative entrance (through a side gate) to the SIC. The accused then reversed his vehicle quickly as he wished to prevent any disruption to traffic flow. The accused checked his rear view mirror and turned his head back (towards the left) while he was reversing. In so doing, he failed to check his speedometer and the right rear view of the vehicle. As such, he failed to see the deceased and victim who were approaching the vehicle from the right rear.

At the material time, the deceased and the victim were crossing the same stretch of road (the location of the crossing is not within a 50 metres zone from any designated pedestrian crossing). They were crossing the road from the centre divider. The victim did not notice any approaching vehicles or the accused’s vehicle reversing.

As the deceased and the victim reached somewhere between the extreme left and centre lane, the accused vehicle collided with the deceased and the victim. The accused was believed to have run over the deceased.

Further investigation revealed that there was an independent eye-witness who had witnessed the accused reversing his vehicle at a fast speed before colliding with the deceased and the victim.

As the result of the accident, the deceased sustained multiple injuries and was send to Changi General Hospital for treatment. On examination, the deceased was in a coma with a Glasgow Coma Score of 4 and was bleeding from nose to mouth. The deceased was then transferred to the Surgical Intensive Care Unit. However, the deceased’s prognosis was grave and on 3 April 2011, the deceased’s family decided to withdraw further medical therapy and he was pronounced dead at 1.30pm.

The Health Science Authority (HSA) issued an Autopsy Report No. AZ1151-01905 certifying that Medical Officer Dr Belinda Lee Wai Ling supervised by Senior Forensic Consultant Pathologist, Dr Paul Chui performed an autopsy on the deceased and certified the cause of the dealth was (IA) Pneumonia following (IB) Serve head injury. The injuries sustained were consistent with that resulting from a road traffic accident. The...