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Edmund Chen, 63, to appeal 5-day jail sentence after careless driving

He is also disqualified from driving for five years.

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February 02, 2026, 06:39 PM

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Former actor Edmund Chen is set to appeal his five-day jail sentence for careless driving.

According to court documents, Chen filed a notice of appeal on Feb. 2.

In addition, Chen appears to be changing lawyers — from Josephus Tan and Cory Wong, from Invictus Law, to Kelvin Ong from Contigo Law.

On Jan. 29, Chen pleaded guilty in court to one count of driving without reasonable consideration for other road users, resulting in an accident.

He was sentenced to five days' imprisonment and was disqualified from driving for five years.

This was despite the prosecution asking for a fine of between S$3,000 and S$5,000.

While both the prosecution and the defence had sought a fine, the judge disagreed, finding that the custodial threshold had been crossed.

He pointed to the harm caused to the victim, who suffered multiple right-hand fractures.

He also found that there were two culpability factors — firstly, that he had changed lanes across the chevron markings, and secondly, that there was a high degree of carelessness.

The judge gave full weight to Chen's cooperation with the authorities and his quick guilty plea.

What happened

Chen was driving in the leftmost lane of the four-lane Ayer Rajah Expressway towards the Central Expressway (CTE) on the afternoon of Mar. 4, 2025.

The third and fourth lanes led to Keppel Road, while the first and second lanes led to the CTE.

He intended to go to CTE but didn't form up in time, and he tried to move to the second lane by braking abruptly and attempting to cross the chevron markings between lanes.

Among other things, he allowed a car to pass him in the third lane before filtering sharply across it.

This caused him to collide with a motorcycle that was overtaking his car, causing grievous hurt to the rider.

The court heard that Chen stopped and immediately rendered assistance to the victim.

The victim was sent to the hospital, where he underwent surgery and was found to have sustained multiple right-hand wrist fractures.

He was given 99 days of hospitalisation leave but did not suffer any permanent disability.

Related story

Top photos via Khine Zin Htet/Mothership

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