Car dealer without licence jailed for drink driving, hit-and-run offences

Yew Ming Kiat, a 50-year-old Singaporean, was sentenced on Friday (Jan 9) to nine months and two weeks' jail, fined S$11,500 (US$8,900) and banned from driving for eight years.

As he cannot pay the fine, he will have to serve another 23 days' jail in default.

Yew pleaded guilty to seven charges ranging from drink driving, driving without due care and attention and causing hurt, and driving without insurance coverage or a licence.

Another 16 charges were taken into consideration.

THE CASE

The court heard that Yew rented a vehicle from Tribecar in Tampines on Sep 3, 2024, and drove to Potong Pasir to purchase groceries.

He later drove to Pasir Ris for dinner, where he drank a bottle of white wine.

Sometime before 1.42am on Sep 4, 2024, Yew felt unwell and decided to drive to National University Hospital for medical treatment.

He was stopped at a police roadblock at Bukit Batok where he failed a breath test. The police officer discovered that Yew did not have a driving licence.

He was arrested and took another test, which found 48 microgrammes of alcohol per 100ml of his breath, above the limit of 35.

Yew was arrested and released on personal bond, but continued to offend.

THE MASERATI ACCIDENTS

On Jan 21, 2025, Yew drove his black Maserati along Tampines Avenue 10.

He filtered from the first lane to the second without keeping a proper lookout and swiped the rear of a motorcycle.

When the motorcyclist approached him to get his particulars for a police report, Yew refused to comply and drove off.

The motorcyclist and his pillion rider followed Yew to a traffic stop.

Yew prematurely released his brakes, causing his Maserati to hit the back of a car ahead.

The car driver alighted and similarly asked Yew for his details, but Yew refused and drove off, striking the car driver's leg.

As a result of the collision with the car, the driver and his passenger both suffered pain in their backs and necks and were given three days' leave. The car repairs cost S$1,561.

Using the car plate on the Maserati, police officers visited a man and found a similar Maserati at his home, bearing the same vehicle plate number but painted yellow.

The man denied any involvement in the accidents, and the police found Yew's black Maserati at a workshop in Kaki Bukit and identified him as the owner of the car involved in the accidents.

A check of the chassis number of Yew's car revealed that he had displayed a forged vehicle plate. The original vehicle plate had been deregistered on Dec 31, 2023.

Yew claimed that he had bought the car from a person named "Steve" in 2021 for S$30,000 in cash. He admitted that he had been driving the car between 2021 and January 2025 without any insurance coverage or renewing the road tax.

The prosecution sought a total of 14 to 17-and-a-half months' jail for Yew, a fine of between S$10,000 and S$13,000, and a driving ban of eight to 10 years.

REPEAT OFFENDER

Deputy Public Prosecutor Johan Tay read out a long list of Yew's past convictions dating back to 2002.

These include driving without a licence, using a vehicle without insurance coverage, keeping or using an unregistered vehicle, using vehicles with forged plates, drink driving, reckless or dangerous driving, and failing to stop after an accident.

Over the years, he had been fined, jailed and banned from driving for these offences.

Mr Tay said he was seeking "a rather stiff sentence" but said this was justifiable based on the "rather lengthy" list of past convictions.

He asked the court to look at Yew's conduct as a whole.

Yew was unrepresented and said he wanted to go ahead with the guilty plea even though he did not have a lawyer.

In mitigation, he said: "Your honour, I am very remorseful for what I have done. And this time round, I am really, if I am released from prison and I'm given a chance to get the licence, I will do so. Because I'm a car dealer, a car broker, so that is why I needed ... to drive very frequently."

He added that he knew it was wrong, admitted his mistakes, but sought a lighter sentence.

District Judge Tan Jen Tse noted that the alcohol level for Yew's drink driving was "moderate", and his previous similar conviction was "dated".

However, he noted that Yew travelled a fairly long distance from Pasir Ris to Bukit Batok, which was "almost across the island".