SINGAPORE - In an attempt to evade the authorities, a man sped off on his unregistered power-assisted bicycle (PAB) but was caught after it hit a kerb and he landed inside a drain.

The impact knocked the rider Sheikh Fadhil Belkhir Omar unconscious and he was rushed to hospital where he was found to have suffered a head injury.

Fadhil, 27, was sentenced on Tuesday (April 9) to three weeks' jail after he pleaded guilty to riding the PAB in a rash manner. He also admitted that the device was unregistered.

In handing down the sentence, District Judge Marvin Bay noted that Fadhil had led a group of Land Transport Authority (LTA) officers on a high-speed chase.

The judge added: "This hazardous chase was fortunately cut short when you lost control, crashed your vehicle and sustained injuries.

"The courts must take a serious view of your reckless action, especially the fact that the PAB is a powered vehicle which can cause injuries if misused or carelessly ridden."

The court heard that a group of LTA officers were patrolling along Pioneer Road North in a van at around 9am on Feb 9 last year when one of them spotted Fadhil from afar.

The officer decided to conduct a check on him and stopped at the extreme left of the three-lane Upper Jurong Road towards the Pan-Island Expressway.

He asked Fadhil to stop when the latter approached the van.

Instead of obeying the order, Fadhil decided to get away as he did not want to be fined and have his vehicle confiscated.

The LTA officers then chased after him.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Suhas Malhotra said: "He sped up, and then swerved abruptly, to change three lanes, from the leftmost lane to the rightmost lane.

"The accused continued to ride in the rightmost lane for about 600 metres, before he swerved back to the centre lane, and then to the leftmost lane."

The DPP added that Fadhil was riding so fast that he lost control of his PAB and it hit a kerb.

Court documents did not reveal his speed at the time, but he was flung off and landed in a drain.

The LTA officer detained Fadhil, who was then taken to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital.

He was discharged later that day and given five days of hospitalisation leave.

The Straits Times had earlier reported that PABs are allowed on roads, as well as on shared paths with a motorised speed limit of 25kmh. PABs are not allowed on footpaths.

From February last year, first-time offenders caught riding unregistered PABs on public roads can be jailed for up to three months and fined up to $2,000.

Repeat offenders can be jailed for up to six months and fined up to $5,000.

For riding the PAB in a rash manner, Fadhil could have been jailed for up to six months and fined up to $2,500.