Man given jail last year for hurting cop by negligent driving admits he did so while intoxicated

SINGAPORE - A man, sentenced to three weeks' jail in June last year for causing grievous hurt to a Traffic Police officer by negligent driving, was given more jail time on Tuesday (March 8) after pleading guilty to charges related to the 2018 incident.

Wong Choon Yong, 37, was sentenced to 15 weeks' jail and a fine of $1,250 on Tuesday after admitting to three charges including drink driving.

One charge pertained to an unrelated incident in July 2018, when he fell asleep in his car after a drinking session, the vehicle obstructing other road users in Orange Grove Road.

Wong was also disqualified from driving all classes of vehicles for three years from his date of release.

He will serve the two jail terms concurrently, which means that he will spend a total of 15 weeks behind bars.

Last June, Wong was sentenced to three weeks' jail and a fine of $1,500 after being convicted on one count each of speeding and causing grievous hurt to Staff Sergeant Amir Muhammad Abdul Hamid by negligent driving in 2018.

On Aug 8 that year, Wong had gone for a drinking session at Balmoral Plaza.

He was later driving along the Central Expressway to go to a Clarke Quay nightspot early the next morning when Staff Sgt Amir and his colleagues spotted his car travelling faster than the other vehicles.

The speed limit at the stretch of expressway was 80kmh.

The officers then sped up to keep up with Wong's car and trailed it into the Kampong Java Tunnel.

They also conducted a speed check and found that the vehicle was going at 135kmh.

Staff Sgt Amir, who was on a motorcycle, later gestured to Wong to stop his car and the offender braked abruptly in the middle of a slip road towards Buyong Road, near Orchard Road.

Staff Sgt Amir was forced to brake suddenly, and he fell off his motorcycle, fracturing his left wrist.

Another officer, Senior Staff Sgt Sebastian Seet, then asked Wong to step out of his car.

Senior Staff Sgt Seet noticed that Wong reeked of alcohol, his face was flushed and eyes were bloodshot. His gait was also unsteady and his speech was slurred.

Wong was taken to the Traffic Police Headquarters after he failed a breathalyser test.

He was later found to have 67 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath. This was almost double the prescribed limit of 35mcg of alcohol per 100ml of breath.

Wong was represented by lawyer Wee Hong Shern, who told the court on Tuesday that his client "undertakes never to commit the same mistake again".

Mr Wee added: "He is (an) only child and is his mother's sole financial and physical caregiver.

"He is deeply worried for his mother's well-being once he enters prison, especially in light of the Covid-19 pandemic."