Man, 36, drives van without licence, fatally runs over daughter, 2, in Woodlands car park, gets 12 weeks' jail

A man was driving a delivery van without a licence in a Woodlands car park when he hit a stroller being pushed by his wife, which had his two-year-old daughter inside.

This toppled the stroller and he inadvertently ran over the girl, causing her to die from her injuries in hospital.

The man, who was on the run for a previous unlicensed moneylending offence, was arrested on the day of the accident in March 2023.

On Jul. 16, the man, now 36, was sentenced to 12 weeks' jail and disqualified from driving for three years.

He cannot be named to protect the identity of his other children, in accordance with the Children and Young Persons Act.

Drove van without licence, ran over daughter

Court documents seen by Mothership indicated that the fatal accident took place on Mar. 13, 2023 in the Block 326 Woodlands Street 32 car park.

The man's wife had rented the van from her company to deliver parcels, together with her husband, their son and daughter.

After she drove to the Woodlands Street 32 area, she and her husband started delivering parcels at about 1pm.

Sometime before 2:40pm, the man's wife planned to head to Block 326 on foot to drop off a few parcels.

The man, who has never held a Class 3 driving licence, asked to drive the van to Blocks 327 to 335 to clear the remaining deliveries so the family could have lunch.

His wife agreed and he drove off with their son in the front passenger seat.

At about 2:42pm, the man drove past his wife, who was walking by the side of the road and pushing their daughter in a stroller.

But he did not keep a safe distance, and ended up hitting the girl's stroller, toppling it.

In the process, the man ran over his daughter and his wife's foot.

Died in hospital

The girl's mother screamed when she saw the girl lying motionless on the road, which prompted the man to brake and reverse the van.

He got out and ran towards his wife, who was holding their unconscious daughter and crying.

The man then tried to wake the girl up but this did not work.

He began to walk around aimlessly while holding his daughter in his arms, while mumbling "papa sorry" multiple times.

Passersby were seen coming over to help, and one of them called for an ambulance.

At 2:42pm, a member of the public called 999 and told police, "There is an accident. One van hit a pram. Children injured."

The girl and her mother were subsequently sent to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital in separate ambulances.

At the hospital, the girl was found to be bleeding profusely from her nose and mouth, with a forehead bruise and swelling in her brain.

Despite attempts to resuscitate her, she was pronounced dead on the same day at 3:31pm.

An autopsy found that the girl had died from multiple injuries consistent with those sustained in a motor vehicle collision.

Her mother was also found to have a bruise on her right foot from the accident.

Arrested

The man was arrested at 7pm on Mar. 13 at the car park.

He was found to have absconded from a sentence of 12 months' jail and three strokes of the cane for unlicensed moneylending, which was handed down on Dec. 7, 2021.

After his arrest, he started serving the sentence that he had previously absconded from.

Investigations also found that the van was in serviceable condition.

No evidence was found to suggest possible mechanical failure to the van that could have caused the accident.

He drove recklessly: Prosecution

On Jul. 17, the man pleaded guilty to one count of driving without a licence and another count of driving without motor insurance.

Two other charges for driving without due care and attention were taken into consideration for sentencing.

The prosecution asked for a sentence of between 12 to 20 weeks' jail and a three-year disqualification from holding a motor licence for the man, noting that he had driven recklessly so close to his wife and daughter, resulting in "grave and tragic" consequences.

"An accident occurred, and the accused caused the death of his own daughter as well as untold grief to both his wife and himself," said the prosecutor.

'It's our own daughter... hard for us to move on': Man

The man, who did not have a lawyer, asked the court to consider that the case was two years ago and questioned the timeline of investigations, CNA and The Straits Times reported.

He said he was waiting for the investigation officer to meet him in jail and get his statement, but claimed there was "nothing until I was released", CNA reported.

To this, the judge said he found no inordinate delay by the police and the prosecution as time was needed to obtain documents, and noted that the man still had to serve the previous sentence he had absconded from.

In mitigation, the man said he and his wife are remorseful and still grieving the loss of their daughter.

The man also told the court that he is the sole breadwinner for his family as his wife has not been in the right state of mind to work following the incident.

He added that he has his son and a six-month-old baby to take care of and asked for a lighter sentence.

“It’s our own daughter, not an outsider or a passer-by... It’s hard for us to move on,” he said, according to ST.

The judge sentenced the man to 12 weeks' jail and banned him from driving for three years.

After his sentence was handed down, the man kissed his sons goodbye before he was taken away.

Top image from Lianhe Zaobao