Public Prosecutor v Wang Yunqiu

• Jurisdiction: Singapore
• Judge: Kenneth Yap
• Judgment Date: 26 July 2018
• Neutral Citation: [2018] SGDC 197
• Court: District Court (Singapore)
• Docket Number: District Arrest Case DAC 913487-2018 & Ors, Magistrate’s Appeal 9194-2018-01
• Published date: 13 December 2018
• Year: 2018
• Hearing Date: 13 June 2018,03 July 2018
• Plaintiff Counsel: DPP Tan Yanying
• Defendant Counsel: Mr Lee Yoon Tet Luke (Luke Lee & Co.)
• Citation: [2018] SGDC 197

District Judge Kenneth Yap:

The accused pleaded guilty to five charges arising out of two separate drink driving incidents. In the first incident, he had punched a taxi driver after vomiting in his vehicle, and thereafter commandeered it for a short drive while intoxicated. In the second incident, the accused was driving while intoxicated when he spotted a road block. He failed to stop when ordered, and instead drove dangerously for about two kilometres with traffic police in hot pursuit. For his actions, the accused was sentenced to a global sentence of three months’ imprisonment, fined $4,800 and disqualified from driving all manner of vehicles for a period of 36 months. He now appeals against sentence.

Charges

For ease of reference, the proceeded charges and the sentences imposed are provided in the following table:

Charge No.	Charge	Sentence
First Incident (28 September 2017)
MCN 900339-2018	Section 323 Penal Code Voluntarily caused hurt to one Alan Sim Chung Kheng, a 48-year old man, by punching him, causing him to suffer tenderness to his right cheek. (Maximum penalty: Up to 2 years’ imprisonment and/or $5,000 fine)	One month's imprisonment. (To run consecutively)
MCN 900342-2018	Section 67(1)(b) Road Traffic Act Driving motor taxi bearing registration number SHC 5366B with not less than 81 mg of alcohol in 100 ml of breath, which exceeded the prescribed limit of 35 mg / 100 ml. (Maximum penalty: Fine of not less than $1,000 and not more than $5,000, or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months. Under s 67(2) of the Road Traffic Act, the court shall, unless it for special reasons thinks fit to order otherwise, impose a disqualification order of not less than 12 months from the date of conviction, or where sentenced to imprisonment, from the date of release from prison.)	Fine of $4,000, in default two weeks' imprisonment. Disqualified from holding or obtaining all classes of driving licences for a period of 24 months with effect from date of release.
Second Incident (24 November 2017)
DAC 913487-2018	Section 67(1)(b) Road Traffic Act Driving motor car bearing registration number SKP 2333L with not less than 56 mg of alcohol in 100 ml of breath, which exceeded the prescribed limit of 35 mg / 100 ml. (Maximum penalty: Fine of not less than $1,000 and not more than $5,000, or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months. Under s 67(2) of the Road Traffic Act, the court shall, unless it for special reasons thinks fit to order otherwise, impose a disqualification order of not less than 12 months from the date of conviction, or where sentenced to imprisonment, from the date of release from prison.)	One week's imprisonment. Disqualified from holding or obtaining all classes of driving licences for a period of 36 months with effect from date of release.
DAC 913488-2018	Section 64(1) Road Traffic Act Driving motor car bearing registration number SKP 2333L in a manner which was dangerous to the public. (Maximum penalty: Fine not exceeding $5,000 and/or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months. Under s 42(1) of the Road Traffic Act, a court may impose a disqualification order for life or for such period as the court may think fit.)	Two (2) months' imprisonment. (To run consecutively) Disqualified from holding or obtaining all classes of driving licences for a period of 36 months with effect from date of release.
DAC 913489-2018	Section 127(5) Road Traffic Act Failure to stop motor car SKP 2333L when ordered by a police officer in uniform (Maximum penalty: Fine of $1,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months)	Fine of $800, in default four days' imprisonment.

The accused admitted to two further charges that were taken into consideration for the purposes of sentencing, namely: s 96(1) of the Road Traffic Act (“RTA”) for driving motor taxi bearing registration number SHC 5336B without the consent of the owner; and s 3(1) of the Motor Vehicles (Third-Party Risks and Compensation) Act (Cap 189) for using motor taxi bearing registration number SHC 5336B without a policy of insurance or such security in respect of third-party risks.

I sentenced the accused to a total sentence of imprisonment of three months, comprising one month’s imprisonment for voluntarily causing hurt in the first incident, to run consecutively with two months’ imprisonment for dangerous driving charge in the second incident. I also imposed a total fine of $4,800 (with two weeks’ four days imprisonment in default), as well as a disqualification order of 36 months on all classes of driving licences, to take effect from the date of the accused’s release.

At the accused’s request, the sentence of imprisonment was deferred until 9 July 2018. The accused filed his appeal against sentence on 26 June 2018, and on 3 July 2018, I granted a stay of execution and bail pending appeal in the sum of $15,000 in one surety.

Statement of Facts

The accused is a male Singaporean Permanent Resident aged 32 years.

The First Incident (28 September 2017)

On 27 September 2017, from about 9 pm, the accused had consumed about 10 cans of beer at his friend’s home in Hougang. Having finished this drinking session, he took a taxi to Somerset for supper at about 12.30 am on the following day. During supper, he further consumed an unknown amount of beer. He finished drinking at about 4 am.

At about 5.10 am, the accused boarded a taxi at 313 Somerset to head home to Saint Michael’s Road. The taxi was driven by one Alan Sim Chung Kheng (“the victim”), aged 48 years. The victim noted that the accused was tipsy and was burping, and offered the accused a plastic bag in case he should vomit. Less than a minute later, the accused vomited on the passenger seat. He then told the victim that he would pay him to clean up the taxi.

When the victim arrived at Saint Michael’s Road, he stopped his taxi along 20 St Michael Road at the guardhouse of Sunville condominium. As the accused was in an intoxicated state, the victim alighted to help the accused out of his taxi and asked the accused for $100. This was to cover the cost of the taxi fare, which was about $30, and the cleaning cost and time.

Upon hearing this, the accused challenged the victim to call for the police. Before the victim could reach out to his mobile phone, the accused punched the victim once on the right side of his face with his left hand. The accused then got into the victim’s taxi and drove the taxi to 34G St Michael Road.

The victim reported the matter to the police. Upon arrival, the police conducted a breathalyzer test on the accused, which he failed. He was arrested and brought to the police station for the Breath Evidential Analyser (BEA) test. The BEA test conducted at about 7.22 am that day revealed that the proportion of alcohol in accused’s breath was 81 mg of alcohol in every 100 ml of breath. The prescribed limit is 35 mg of alcohol per 100 ml of breath.

The victim received medical attention for his injuries at Tan Tock Seng Hospital (“TTSH”) after the assault. He was found to have tenderness on his right cheek and right ear, with no obvious injuries noted. He was discharged with analgesics and given two days of outpatient medical leave.

By his actions in the early morning of 28 September 2017, the accused had committed the offences of voluntarily causing hurt to the victim under s 323 of the Penal Code, as well as drink driving under s 67(1)(b) of the Road Traffic Act.

The Second Incident (24 November 2017)

Barely two months later, on 23 November 2017 at about 11 pm, the accused had gone to a club located at Golden Mile Tower where he consumed about three bottles of beer between 11 plus pm to about 2 plus am on the following day.

At about 3 plus am, the accused left the club and drove his motor car bearing registration number SKP 2333L to go to Marina Square. While driving along the Beach Road slip road into Crawford Street, the accused stopped his vehicle abruptly after the stop line when he spotted a police roadblock along Crawford Street, towards the direction of Lavender Street. Staff Sergeant Noor Hakim Bin Mohamed (“SSG Noor”), who was stationed at the road block, initiated a pursuit of the accused using a police motor cycle with blinkers and sirens. The accused did not pay heed and drove his motor car in the following manner which was dangerous to the public: The accused made an illegal U-turn after the slip road from Beach Road into Crawford Street and drove against the flow of traffic for an approximate distance of about 20 metres, encroaching into the travelling path of two unknown motor cars, before making a right turn into Beach Road. The accused then weaved in and out of lanes along Beach Road towards Middle Road, endangering the safety of other road users and almost causing collisions against multiple vehicles in an attempt to evade the police pursuit. The accused failed to conform to a red traffic light signal when making a left turn at the signalized traffic light junction of Beach Road by Middle Road in an attempt to evade the police while being pursued. The accused subsequently stopped his vehicle along Middle Road before the junction of Nicoll Highway and ran away on foot. SSG Noor managed to detain the accused thereafter.

Notably, SSG Noor had pursued the accused’s vehicle for about two kilometres during the entire episode. SSG Noor interviewed the accused after he was detained, and observed that he reeked strongly of alcohol and spoke in slurred speech. When the accused failed his breathalyser test, he was arrested and escorted back to Traffic Police for the BEA test to be conducted. The BEA test was conducted at 4.40 am that morning, and revealed that the proportion of alcohol in the accused’s breath was 56 mg of...