SINGAPORE – Individuals who have completely lost their driving licences but still get behind the wheel will face, as a starting point, three weeks’ jail and a two-year driving ban for driving without a valid licence.
The sentencing benchmark for this category of offenders was laid down recently by the High Court in a case involving a man who was caught driving in 2024, even though his licence had been revoked.
Garrick Eng Kwan Meng, 46, was originally handed a $5,000 fine and a two-year driving ban by a district court in August 2025 for a charge of driving without a valid licence.
On April 22, Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon allowed an appeal by the prosecution and sentenced Eng to four weeks’ jail instead. The duration of the driving ban was unchanged.
Menon issued written grounds on May 26 to differentiate the types of unlicensed drivers.
He made it clear that a driver who once had a licence but lost it completely is more culpable than a driver who had never held a licence: “His disability to drive was the product of prior conduct serious enough to warrant the complete removal of his licence, and his decision to drive regardless reflects a persistent disregard for the safety of other road users.”
Eng’s driving licence was revoked in June 2018 after he was fined and disqualified from driving for five years over a fatal accident.
In that incident, his first wife and three children were passengers in the car when he lost control of the vehicle and crashed it.
The impact caused his wife and one of his children, who were in the back seat, to be thrown out of the car. His wife died while the child was injured.
After the disqualification period ended, Eng tried to obtain a licence again but did not pass the basic theory test.
Read Full Article At Source
