Not only did he crash the car he borrowed, Ivan Tan Chun Keng sped off without giving the driver of the other vehicle involved in the collision his particulars.

And to make things worse, he used a dead former colleague's particulars instead of his own when asked by Traffic Police (TP) later.

The 32-year-old operations executive was yesterday sentenced to four months' jail, a fine of $1,800 and disqualified from driving all classes of vehicles for a year.

Ivan Tan had pleaded guilty last month to one count each of intentionally perverting the course of justice, driving without insurance, and failing to provide his particulars to the other motorist after the accident. He also admitted he had failed to display L-plates, and had driven without the supervision of a qualified instructor during the collision.

The court heard that he had borrowed the car from the owner, Mr Tan Ah Seng, on June 4 last year.

Two days later, Ivan Tan, who held a provisional driving licence then, was driving along Clementi Avenue 6 at around 7am when he collided into a car driven by Ms Chua Yah Choo. No one was injured.

Instead of stopping, he sped off without providing his particulars and she lodged a police report.

The accident damaged Mr Tan Ah Seng's car. Ivan Tan tried to obstruct police investigations by taking the car to the workshop later that day to have the damaged parts fixed.

On June 22 last year, TP sent the car owner a notice to furnish the particulars of the driver involved in the accident. When confronted, Ivan Tan confessed to the owner.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Lim Jian Yi said that after Ivan Tan attended the wake of a former colleague - Mr Low Geok Seng - four days later, he decided to submit Mr Low's particulars to the authorities instead of his own.

TP then sent a letter to Mr Low's address about a month later but his son told officers that the driver could not have been his father.

Mr Low was admitted to the Singapore General Hospital in May that year due to cancer and was bedridden when the accident took place. He died in June last year.

An investigation officer called up Mr Tan Ah Seng on Aug 7 last year and he revealed that Ivan Tan was the driver. The officer interviewed Ivan Tan the next day and he finally admitted to his offences.

He was offered bail of $15,000 yesterday as he wished to settle personal matters before serving his sentence. He was ordered to surrender himself at the State Courts on May 11.