S'pore PR, 46, gets 11 years' jail after drunk-driving & fatally hitting pedestrian, severing body into 3 parts

A man, who drove under the influence of alcohol with his two young children in his vehicle and fatally struck a pedestrian at high speed was sentenced to 11 years' jail on Feb. 2.

He was also fined S$12,000 and banned from driving for 15 years, CNA reported.

The man is a 46-year-old Australian national and a Singapore permanent resident.

He cannot be named due to a gag order protecting the identities of his two children, who were aged three and four at the time of the incident and are victims of the crash.

He pleaded guilty to one charge of dangerous driving causing death as a "serious repeat-repeat offender", and a second charge of repeat drink driving.

A third charge for dangerous driving involving his children was taken into consideration during sentencing.

The case

Court documents seen by Mothership reveal that on the morning of Apr 23, 2023, man drove his silver BMW M3 Coupe to attend a birthday party at 100 Turf Club Road.

He consumed a few glasses of red and white wine during the party, with his last drink at about 1:30pm that day.

Shortly before 2pm, he placed his children in booster seats in the back of his car and drove off.

He was said to be "lethargic" after staying up the night before to care for his newborn baby.

He also had a runny nose and cough, and had taken an antihistamine called Cetirizine at around 9am that morning.

At about 2pm, the man was driving along Dunearn Road towards Bukit Timah Road, heading towards their home.

As he came to an overhead bridge at Tan Kah Kee MRT station, the man drove at what was described to be "an excessive speed" on the first lane of the road.

At about the same time, the victim, a 64-year-old Singaporean retiree, was standing on the kerb on the left side of the road, less than 100 metres away from the overhead bridge.

After checking that traffic was clear, the victim began crossing the road from the left to right side of the man's perspective.

After crossing two lanes and more than halfway across the first lane, he was struck from his right by the man’s car, which was travelling at between 111km/h and 122km/h, on a road with a speed limit of 70km/h.

The man failed to keep a proper lookout for pedestrians and did not slow down before the collision.

The force of the crash severed the victim's body into three parts — his torso and head crashed through the windscreen and landed on the man's lap.

It was only after the crash that the man realised that he had hit a person.

He jammed his brakes, and his car veered into the centre lane of the road.

The impact shattered both the front and rear windscreens, and his children were heard crying loudly.

The man then pushed the victim's torso out of the car before stepping out and calling for the police.

Upon arriving, the police found the other parts of the victim's body at different sections of the road.

The man failed a preliminary breath test and was arrested.

His blood was later found to contain 145 microgrammes of ethanol per 100ml of blood.

At the time of the accident, weather conditions were fine, visibility was clear, traffic was moderate and the road surface was dry.

The man's two children were later taken to the hospital with a scalp abrasion and abdominal pain.

Previous offence

According to CNA, the court heard that the man had a prior conviction in 2015 for careless driving and drink driving.

He had driven while drunk and fell asleep in a stationary car.

After being awakened by the police, he drove forward and collided with the police car.

Sentencing

The prosecution sought a jail term of between 12-and-a-half years and 14-and-a-half years, along with a fine of S$12,000 and a driving ban of 15 years.

It argued that the man had driven in an extremely dangerous manner, resulting in the victim’s instantaneous death.

It also said the man’s culpability was high, citing his alcohol consumption, sleep deprivation and use of drowsiness-inducing medication.

The prosecution added that he had placed his children in significant danger, and it was fortuitous that they suffered only minor injuries.

"There is a clear increasing trend of danger when compared to his 2015 conviction," said the prosecution.

The man is currently on bail pending an appeal against his sentence.

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