Jail for cop who dozed off at wheel of police car, injuring two pedestrians

A police staff sergeant nodded off at the wheel as she was driving a police car on Jan 1 last year, and it struck two pedestrians as they were crossing a road at a zebra crossing, causing them fractures.

Norimawati Abdullah, 31, was yesterday sentenced to three months' jail after she pleaded guilty to causing grievous hurt while driving without reasonable consideration to other road users.

She was also disqualified from driving all classes of vehicles for five years from her date of release.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Tay Jingxi said that during investigations, Norimawati admitted she had between five and six hours of disrupted sleep the night before.

Norimawati dozed off while driving along Nanyang Avenue near Hall 11 of Nanyang Technological University around 6.20pm on Jan 1 last year. She was approaching a zebra crossing and it was drizzling at the time.

Her colleague in the car shouted to rouse her when she did not slow down. She failed to stop the vehicle in time and it struck two students - Ms Tang Chuqiao, 24, and Ms Tian Ting, 25.

They were taken to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital where Ms Tang was assessed to have injuries, including a neck fracture. Ms Tian suffered a fracture to her pelvis and multiple facial wounds.

Yesterday, defence lawyer Amarjit Singh Sidhu pleaded for his client to be given four to six weeks' jail and a five-year disqualification from driving.

Correction note: An earlier version of this article stated that Norimawati Abdullah was suspended from service. This has been corrected.