Public Prosecutor v Tan Yee Hoe

• Jurisdiction: Singapore
• Judge: John Ng
• Judgment Date: 02 January 2014
• Neutral Citation: [2014] SGDC 2
• Court: District Court (Singapore)
• Hearing Date: 12 December 2013
• Docket Number: LTA 352 & 354 of 2013
• Plaintiff Counsel: LTA Prosecutor Mr Mohd Reezwan
• Defendant Counsel: Accused in-person.
• Published date: 15 January 2014

District Judge Ng John:

The accused pleaded guilty to 6 charges – 4 charges under the Road Traffic Act, Chapter 276 (“RTA”) and 2 charges under the Motor Vehicles (Third-Party Risks and Compensation) Act, Chapter 189 (“MVA”) for using a deregistered motorcycle on 2 occasions which consequently meant that he had used a motor vehicle on both occasions without the requisite motor insurance, an offence under the MVA. He was fined a total of $3,000 for the 6 offences and disqualified from holding a driving licence for the statutory minimum period of 12 months from the date of conviction. The fines have been paid and this appeal is only against the order of disqualification.

For the purposes of this appeal against the Order of Disqualification under the MVA, it is provided that whoever commits the offence under s.3(1) shall be punished under s.3(2) and Section 3(3) of the MVA further provides as follows:

"A person convicted of an offence under this 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 conviction."

Brief Facts

The full facts on the commission of the offences can be found in the Statement of Facts presented by the Prosecution. The accused admitted to the full facts without any qualification and was thereby convicted of the offences as charged. Essentially, on 2 and 20 May 2013 the accused had used his motorcycle on the roads in Singapore. In the course of investigations, it was discovered that the vehicle had been deregistered for his failure to pay the road tax. Therefore the vehicle had been used without vehicle licence in force and without the requisite insurance coverage.

Mitigation

The accused pleaded for leniency and a light fine in his oral mitigation. He added that he had not been paid by his company between January and May 2013 until he went to the Ministry of Manpower to lodge a complaint. He was only paid half of his salary by instalment thereafter. He left the company and went to work for another company in June.

Reasons for the order of disqualification

The MVA is to provide against third-party risks arising out of the use of motor vehicles and for the payment of compensation in respect of death or bodily injury arising out of the use of...