Public Prosecutor v Yap Chee Hoon

• Jurisdiction: Singapore
• Judge: Roy Grenville Neighbour
• Judgment Date: 08 November 2006
• Neutral Citation: [2006] SGDC 255
• Court: District Court (Singapore)
• Year: 2006
• Published date: 28 November 2006
• Plaintiff Counsel: DPP Kenneth Chuah
• Defendant Counsel: Peter Ong Lip Cheng (Peter Ong & Raymond Tan)
• Citation: [2006] SGDC 255

8 November 2006

District Judge Roy Grenville Neighbour:

1. The accused, midway of a trial pleaded guilty to the following amended charge, namely:-

DAC No 25919/2006 [Exhibit P1A]

“You

Yap Chee Hoon, male 34 years

NRIC No. S7200526-J

are charged that you, on the 26^th day of January 2006 at or about 5.46 a.m., did drive motor lorry no. GW 4676 U along the car park driveway in front of Block 17, Toh Yi Drive, Singapore without due care and attention, to wit, by failing to have a proper lookout ahead for a pedestrian, one Lim Kah Sim (deceased), male, 50 years old, who was crossing the said driveway from your right to left, and thereafter your motor lorry had collided into the said Lim Kah Sim, and you have thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 65(a) of the Road Traffic Act, Chapter 276.

The accused, having been found guilty and convicted on the charge was sentenced to pay a fine of $1,000 in default 10 days imprisonment. He was also disqualified from holding or obtaining a driving licence for all classes of motor vehicles for a period of 12 months’. The accused has since paid the fine. Dissatisfied, the accused has appealed against the sentence.

The facts

On 26^th Jan 2006 at about 5.46 a.m. the police received a call from the accused informing that he required assistance because a person was injured in a road traffic accident at Block 17 Toh Yi Drive. Consequently, Traffic Police Corporal Mohd Fauzi was dispatched to said address and upon arrival at the scene he drew a sketch plan.

Investigations revealed that Block 17 Toh Yi Drive is situated beside a public car park. A staircase at the ground floor of the said apartment block leads directly to the car park. In the car park, parking lots are situated on both sides of the driveway. In between parking lots No. 20 and 21 is an open 1.7 metre bay enabling pedestrians to access or exit the car park. A cemented pavement leads from the open bay to the staircase connecting Blk 17 Toh Yi Drive. At the top of the staircase is a lamp post.

Investigations also revealed that at about 5.40 a.m., that morning, the deceased, one Lim Kah Sim aged 50 years, had left his residence at #04-79, Block 17, Toh Yi Drive intending to take a bus from a bus stop opposite the said apartment block. At about 5.46 a.m., the accused was driving his motor lorry bearing registration number GW 4676 U into the car park and was proceeding to Top Seafood coffee shop situated at Block 18 Toh Yi Drive at the far end of the car park. As he was driving towards Block 18 and passing the open bay in between car park lot Nos 20 and 21 near to Block 17, the accused failed to notice the deceased proceeding down the staircase into the car park between car parking lots 20 and 21. The accused only noticed the deceased when the deceased had moved beyond the car park lots 20 and 21 and was directly in front of his motor lorry. Upon seeing the deceased directly in front of his motor vehicle, the accused applied his brakes but could not stop in time. He collided into the deceased. In colliding into the deceased the accused had done so without due care and attention in failing to keep a proper lookout for the deceased who was crossing the car park in front of him. At the material time, the weather was fine, the road surface was dry, the visibility was fair and traffic flow was light.

As a result of the collision, the deceased suffered head injuries and was conveyed to the National University Hospital (NUH).

Three days later, on 28^th Jan ’06 at about 11.23 a.m. the deceased succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead by Dr Gurpal Singh. Associate Consultant, Dr Lai Siang Hui who performed an Autopsy on the deceased certified the cause of death to be due to severe head injuries which are consistent with having been caused in a road traffic accident.

In the course of investigations the accused’s motor lorry GW 4676 U was inspected for damages. Traffic Police Investigation Officer Sgt Vincent Ho in his Vehicle Damage Report on the accused’s motor lorry noted that the front left mirror was twisted and the front left body panel was dented. On 27^th Jan ’06, when the accused’s motor vehicle was inspected by Technical Service officer Lim Chwee Hai, TSO Lim stated that found no inherent defects in the accused’s motor vehicle.

Antecedents

The accused has antecedents for contravening the Road Traffic Act (Cap 176) and the Motor Vehicles (Third Party Risks and Compensation) Act (Cap 189). On 1 Mar 2000, he was convicted on for driving whilst under suspension, speeding, using a motor vehicle with forged plates and failing to insure against third party risks. For the offence of driving whilst under suspension the accused was fined 2,000 and disqualified from driving all classes of motor vehicles for 12 months. For failing to insure against third party risks, he was fined $600 and disqualified from driving all classes of motor vehicles for 12 months. For the offence of speeding he was fined $600 and for using a motor vehicle with forged plates he was fined $1,400.

Mitigation

It was submitted by counsel for the accused that the imposition of a fine without a period of disqualification from driving a motor vehicle would be adequate punishment for the accused. Counsel pointed out that under Section 42(1) of the Road Traffic Act disqualification was discretionary and not mandatory. It was submitted that the accused, a married, self-employed man relies on his driving licence for his livelihood. A disqualification from driving a motor vehicle would affect his business...