Pulled over by a traffic police officer for not wearing his seatbelt, a Maserati driver — who was serving a driving ban at the time — decided to make a quick escape.

In the process, he ended up dragging the officer for more than 100m at speeds of up to 84kmh.

On Tuesday, Jul. 28, Lee Chen Yan was sentenced to four years and seven months in prison, a S$3,700 fine, and a lifetime disqualification from driving, according to CNA.

Sentencing for Lee had been delayed after the 35-year-old — who also goes by the name Alex — failed to turn up in court on three occasions after obtaining a medical certificate from a private clinic.

Lee had previously claimed trial, saying that it was someone named Kelvin — who was of the same height, build, and sense of fashion — that had been driving the car instead.

However, on Dec. 4, Lee was found guilty of all the charges brought against him.

The charges include:

• Voluntarily causing grievous hurt to a public servant
• Driving while disqualified
• Failing to stop when ordered by a police officer
• Failing to wear his seatbelt while driving

The details of Lee's offences can be read here.

"A menace on the roads"

According to court documents seen by Mothership, Deputy Public Prosecutors Timotheus Koh and Senthilkumaran Sabapathy sought a sentence of at least four years and nine months' in jail, fines, and a lifetime disqualification from driving.

They argued that Lee's offences were "shockingly audacious" while noting his "fictitious and entirely fanciful defence that he was not the driver of the Maserati that evening".

Furthermore, the prosecution pointed to Lee's "long and chequered history" of traffic-related offences spanning from 2001 to 2017, at one point referring to him as "clearly a menace on the roads".

These offences included allowing under-aged persons to drive his car, permitting the use of a motor vehicle without insurance, dangerous driving, speeding, driving without a licence, illegal exhaust modifications, causing hurt by a negligent act, and driving without due care.

Consequently, Lee had been on the receiving end of multiple fines, a jail sentence, and various stints of being disqualified from driving — the longest of which saw him banned for 10 years.

The lasting impact of the officer's injuries

The prosecution also said that the injury suffered by the traffic police officer had "a lasting impact".

"He continues to feel pain on his lower back when he carries heavy loads, and his career has been affected as he had to be downgraded and exempt from certain police duties as a result of the injury."

As a result, the officer's career advancement had been affected, argued the prosecution.

Lee intends to appeal

On the other hand, Lee's defence lawyer S Balamurugan said that a lifetime ban would be excessive, reported CNA.

He asked for a more appropriate term of disqualification and no more than 24 months in prison.

Balaguruman referred to Lee's private life at home where he was taking care of his brother, a person living with an intellectual disability and behavioural problems.

In addition, Lee's parents suffered from a litany of medical conditions, he had not seen his two young daughters for more than a year, and his Japanese wife was currently unable to enter the country.

According to CNA, the defence lawyer also made the point that the traffic police officer's injuries were on the lower end of the grievous hurt scale and that Lee had only driven about 19kmh over the 60kmh speed limit.

Lee intends to appeal against his conviction and sentencing.

For voluntarily causing grievous hurt to deter a public servant from his duty, Lee could have been sentenced to a maximum jail term of 15 years and a fine or caning.

Top image from Alex Lee and Yan Han’s Facebook page