A 27-year-old Singaporean woman, who was driving her boyfriend and another friend in a Mazda with only a learner's licence, encountered a roadblock at Bukit Batok.
Li Yaqi pulled over at the bus stop ahead of the roadblock, and her boyfriend Ang Yun Bang, also a 27-year-old Singaporean who had a licence, tried to swap seats with her.
They eventually failed and were arrested and charged in court.
Stopped before roadblock
The court heard that the incident happened in the wee hours of the morning on Sep. 6, 2023.
At about 1:15am, police set up a roadblock along Old Jurong Road towards Bukit Batok East Ave 6.
About 15 minutes later, the officers saw a silver Mazda stopping at a bus stop before the roadblock.
They shone a torch and instructed the driver to move forward, but the car did not move.
Boyfriend pretended to be driver
When one of the officers ran over to check, he saw Ang standing beside the driver's door.
Meanwhile, Li and another woman were seated in the car's rear passenger seats.
When police asked Ang why he alighted, he claimed that his bowling bag had toppled in the boot, so he got out to check.
He also claimed that he didn't know it was a roadblock but thought it was a traffic accident ahead.
When asked who the driver was, Ang raised his hand, and Li pointed at him.
Girlfriend only had learner's licence
However, when police interviewed them separately, Li admitted that she had been driving before reaching the roadblock, with Ang sitting in the front passenger seat.
Ang later confirmed this when asked.
Li was found to have only a Class 3 Provisional Driving Licence (PDL) for motorists learning to drive.
Police also observed that Li's car didn't display the requisite signs for a learner's vehicle.
Both were arrested.
She was car owner and in the midst of selling it
Investigations found that Li was the car's registered owner.
Its road tax and insurance had expired on Aug. 31, 2023.
Li said that she had already decided to sell the car and had signed an authorisation form for an agent to hand it over to the new buyer.
She claimed that she thought the new buyer would renew the insurance and road tax.
"Lied to protect my girlfriend": Ang
Ang and Li appeared in court on Jun. 18 without a lawyer, Shin Min Daily News (Shin Min) reported.
Ang pleaded guilty to furnishing false information to a public servant
Li pleaded guilty to driving without a proper licence, driving without insurance coverage, and flouting PDL regulations.
Asking for a lighter sentence, Ang said that he had lied, but not for himself.
“I was foolish at the time and just wanted to protect my girlfriend,” the man said in court, according to Shin Min.
He added that it was "an act of foolishness" rather than a "premeditated offence" and said that they had subsequently confessed the truth "upon realising the graveness of the situation".
Li said in her defence that ever since being arrested, she's been very "cautious" and "fearful" of doing anything illegal.
Ang and Li also pleaded for leniency, claiming they were first-time offenders who had admitted to their offences.
Ang was fined S$2,500, while Li was fined S$1,900.
Li was also barred from holding any classes of driving licence for 12 months.
Top image from Shin Min Daily News