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SINGAPORE \u2013 The driver who caused a fatal chain collision in Tampines in 2024 that killed two people was sentenced to 12 years and nine months\u2019 jail on Oct 5.<\/p>\n
Muhammad Syafie Ismail, 45, whose actions injured eight others, including two 11-year-old boys, was also banned from driving for life.<\/p>\n
A junior college student and a 57-year-old woman died in the crash.<\/p>\n
Syafie had pleaded guilty in August to <\/span><\/a>three charges<\/span><\/a>: one each of dangerous driving causing death, dangerous driving causing grievous hurt and dangerous driving causing hurt.<\/p>\n Syafie kept his head down in the dock as the sentence was meted out on Oct 5.<\/p>\n When he arrived for his sentencing, he was asked by The Straits Times outside the State Courts building if he had anything to say to the victims\u2019 families. He did not respond.<\/p>\n In sentencing Syafie, Principal District Judge Toh Han Li said the jail term imposed was commensurate with the offences he had committed, and was not crushing on him.<\/p>\n As a result of what he did, two innocent lives were lost, eight others were injured, and families were irreversibly affected, said the judge.<\/p>\n Family members of both Syafie and the student were present in the gallery during the hearing.<\/p>\n On April 22, 2024, Syafie had finished working the night shift as an operations manager at a global manufacturing firm and later dropped off a GrabHitch passenger in Bedok at around 6.15am.<\/p>\n He dangerously overtook a car along Bedok Reservoir Road. His vehicle then collided with another car, causing it to veer left and almost hit a motorcyclist.<\/p>\n Syafie then drove off towards a junction at speeds of between 129kmh and 134kmh. The speed limit there was 50kmh.<\/p>\n He ran the red light, which had been red for at least 26 seconds, and rammed into three vehicles, causing a chain collision.<\/p>\n A video of the accident posted on social media showed a black car speeding past at least three vehicles before it caused a crash involving five other vehicles, including a van.<\/p>\n The accident killed Norzihan Juwahib, 57, and the 17-year-old student, who cannot be identified due to a gag order imposed on all victims below 18.<\/p>\nThe crash<\/h2>\n