A Singaporean woman, Ang Jia Hui, 32, was sentenced to 36 days in jail and fined S$800 after she drove a car without a licence and proper insurance coverage, and denied doing so when stopped at a police roadblock.

She took the wheel and went for a practice run on the roads so that she could save money on driving lessons, court documents seen by Mothership stated.

The co-accused, Koh Chee Kwee, a 62-year-old Singaporean man, was the authorised driver of the leased vehicle at the time of the offence.

He sat beside Ang in the front passenger seat and guided her via verbal instructions.

Koh received a 36-day jail sentence and a S$700 fine.

Both are disqualified from holding or obtaining all classes of driving licences for two years.

Ang and Koh were formerly colleagues, but were in a romantic relationship and lived together in Boon Lay.

What happened

On Jan. 3, 2023, after 11pm, Koh drove the car to Block 441 Jurong West Avenue 1 to pick up Ang from her friend’s house.

Ang informed Koh that she did not have confidence to drive and requested for him to guide her so that she could save money on driving lessons.

Koh agreed and he guided her even though he knew that she did not possess any valid Class 3 driving licence at the time.

Koh drove the car to a bus stop along Boon Lay Way.

He switched seats with Ang and guided her verbally.

This was the first time Ang had driven a car as she had not taken practical driving lessons prior to this.

Drove on multiple roads

She drove the car from the Boon Lay Way bus stop to Tuas Avenue 3 via the Ayer Rajah Expressway (AYE).

She then drove to the top floor of an industrial car park along Tuas Avenue 3.

The couple agreed that she would drive back to their residence.

Ang thus drove on Tuas Avenue 3, Jalan Ahmad Ibrahim, AYE, Yuan Ching Road, Hu Ching Road, and into Corporation Road.

Stopped at road block

Their actions were spotted by two police officers attached to the Jurong West Neighbourhood Police Centre.

The police officers were deployed to perform night patrol duty and had set up a police roadblock along Corporation Road at around 1am on Jan. 4, 2023.

Ang and Koh spotted the police roadblock along Corporation Road from afar.

They both decided that the car should stop at the side of the road instead of driving towards the roadblock.

The couple also decided to switch seats so that the police officers would think that Koh was driving.

Ang and Koh got out of their seats, exited the car and re-entered the car to swap positions.

However, their act of swapping seats was seen by two police officers from a distance.

Questioned by police about swapping seats

At the roadblock, they were asked to step outside the vehicle so that a spot check could be performed.

One officer asked them why the car had stopped for a while at the side of the road.

The couple then lied that they had been talking about work and had suddenly stopped to retrieve a file containing work-related documents.

When asked whether they had swapped seats prior to the roadblock, Koh and Ang lied again by denying their act of swapping seats.

Koh also said the car was a leased vehicle and that he was the rightful driver.

Warned about lying

The officer warned the accused and co-accused multiple times of the consequences of providing false statements to a police officer.

Despite the warnings, both Ang and Koh persisted in their lie.

The officer took down their particulars and informed them that they had to report to an investigating officer for further investigations.

The couple were permitted to leave the scene as investigations were required to ascertain if there was any video footage which had captured relevant events.

The couple subsequently decided to come clean.

They informed the investigating officer about what they had done on Jan. 13, 2023.

Both Ang and Koh pleaded guilty to three charges, including driving without a licence, using a motor vehicle without insurance coverage, and obstructing the course of justice.

Two other charges were taken into consideration.

The penalty for driving without a licence is a jail term of up to three years, a fine of up to S$10,000, or both.

Those found guilty of using a motor vehicle without coverage by insurance can face a fine of up to S$1,000 or a jail term of up to three months or both, and a mandatory disqualification from holding a driving licence for at least 12 months.

The punishment for obstructing the course of justice is a jail term of up to seven years, or a fine, or both.

Top photo via Shin Min Daily News