A fitness trainer who was late for work decided to drive a friend's car without the owner's consent. And he did it even though he did not have a valid driving licence.

Mohd Amirudin Mohd Shafiee, 35, was yesterday sentenced to two years and nine months in jail, and fined $1,000 on each of three charges of driving without a licence, taking away a car without the owner's consent, and using it without insurance coverage.

Amirudin, who admitted to eight of 15 charges, including drug consumption and possession, was also banned from driving for three years.

The court heard that Amirudin was driving along Kallang Road at around 2am on Feb 14 this year when he ignored a police officer's order to stop at a road block.

Amirudin, who had a passenger, drove backwards against the flow of traffic, ran red lights, weaved between vehicles at high speed, and finally slowed down at Lorong 14 Geylang after a 2.6km chase.

There, he abandoned the car by jumping off the vehicle while it was still in motion and with his passenger inside. The car continued to move forward and hit the gate of a house, but the passenger alighted before this and ran away.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Crystal Tan said Amirudin had failed to stop when Traffic Police Sergeant Siti Zahirah ordered him to, as he did not have a valid licence. He also had an outstanding court case for similarly failing to comply with a police officer's order to stop at a road block in MacKenzie Road at 1.08am on Jan 19 this year. Two police officers gave chase and arrested him at the Scotts Square basement carpark.

Noting his previous records for traffic- and drug-related offences, District Judge Wong Li Tein said he had not learnt his lesson despite being punished before. She backdated his sentence to Sept 23.