Jail, ban for driving while disqualified

Despite a 10-year ban from driving, a self-employed man drove his wife's car without her consent and committed various traffic offences while doing so.

Soh Seng Tze, 35, had initially pleaded guilty to various traffic charges in March 2014, but he jumped bail before he could be sentenced. He was re-arrested in April this year and produced in court to face the charges.

Yesterday, he was sentenced to 21 months' jail and banned from driving for 20 years after he admitted to six charges.

They included failing to stop when ordered by a police officer, dangerous driving, driving while under disqualification, failing to render help, driving without the owner's consent, and desertion.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Lee Zu Zhao said Soh was visiting his children at his estranged wife's flat on March 23, 2013 when he took her car keys from the cabinet.

Two days later, he picked up his girlfriend at The Concourse in Beach Road and was driving at 110kmh along the Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway when two policemen gave chase after turning on the blinker lights on their vehicle.

But Soh picked up speed on seeing them and exited onto the Tampines Expressway towards the Pan-Island Expressway, speeding at 140kmh to 150kmh and cutting from the extreme left lane to the extreme right lane.

He ignored the officers' order to pull over, racing all the way to East Coast Parkway and Marina Boulevard, where Soh hit a police motorcycle that had joined in the chase. The rider got off his bike in time before the collision.

Soh did not stop there. He reversed and continued driving, running a red light. He was at a carpark in Prince Edward Road when he crashed into the police car, which had caught up with him.

Two other charges were taken into consideration during sentencing.

Elena Chong

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on November 07, 2017, with the headline Jail, ban for driving while disqualified. Subscribe