\n<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Deputy Public Prosecutor Johan Tay read out a long list of Yew’s past convictions dating back to 2002.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Over the years, he had been fined, jailed and banned from driving for these offences.<\/p>\n
Mr Tay said he was seeking “a rather stiff sentence” but said this was justifiable based on the “rather lengthy” list of past convictions.<\/p>\n
He asked the court to look at Yew’s conduct as a whole.<\/p>\n
Yew was unrepresented and said he wanted to go ahead with the guilty plea even though he did not have a lawyer.<\/p>\n
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.”<\/p>\n
He added that he knew it was wrong, admitted his mistakes, but sought a lighter sentence.<\/p>\n
District Judge Tan Jen Tse noted that the alcohol level for Yew’s drink driving was “moderate”, and his previous similar conviction was “dated”.<\/p>\n
However, he noted that Yew travelled a fairly long distance from Pasir Ris to Bukit Batok, which was “almost across the island”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n