BMW driver gets jail for killing pedestrian by speeding into him while drunk, severing body
The force of the impact tore the victim's body into three parts, with one part crashing through the windscreen and landing on the driver's lap.
by Lydia Lam · CNA · JoinRead a summary of this article on FAST.
Get bite-sized news via a new
cards interface. Give it a try.
Click here to return to FAST Tap here to return to FAST
FAST
Warning: This story contains graphic descriptions
SINGAPORE: A man who drove drunk with his two young children in his vehicle barrelled into a pedestrian at high speed, severing his body into three parts and killing him.
The driver, a 46-year-old Australian who is a Singapore permanent resident, was sentenced on Monday (Feb 2) to 11 years' jail, a S$12,000 (US$9,430) fine and a driving ban of 15 years.
He cannot be named as his two children, then aged three and four, are victims of the crash and are protected by a gag order.
The man pleaded guilty to one count of dangerous driving causing death as a "serious repeat-repeat offender" and a second charge of repeat drink driving.
A third charge for dangerous driving involving his children was considered in sentencing.
THE CASE
The court heard that the offender drove his silver BMW M3 Coupe to attend a birthday party at 100 Turf Club Road on the morning of Apr 23, 2023.
During the party, which he attended with two of his children, the offender had red and white wine along with some food.
Shortly before 2pm, he placed his children in booster seats in the back of his car and drove off.
He felt lethargic as he had stayed up during the night to look after his newborn baby. He also had a runny nose and cough and had taken an antihistamine called cetirizine at around 9am that day.
At about 2pm, the man drove along Dunearn Road towards Bukit Timah Road, heading towards home.
As he came to an overhead bridge at Tan Kah Kee MRT Station, he drove at "an excessive speed" on the first lane, said the prosecution.
The victim, a 64-year-old Singaporean retiree, was on the kerb at the left side of the road, standing less than 100m away from the overheard bridge.
He looked and waited for oncoming traffic to clear before crossing the road from the left to right side of the offender's perspective.
He had crossed two lanes of the road and had only half a lane left to cross when the offender's car barrelled into him from his right with great impact, court documents stated.
The offender had completely failed to spot the pedestrian and did not slow down at all, driving at a speed of between 111kmh and 122kmh along a road with a limit of 70kmh.
The force of the crash severed the victim's body into three parts, with the torso and head crashing through the windscreen and into the offender's lap.
The offender braked hard and his car veered into the centre lane of the road. His children cried loudly from the impact of the crash, which shattered the front and rear windscreens of the car.
The driver then pushed the victim's torso out of the car before stepping out and calling for the police.
The police arrived and found the other parts of the victim's body on different sections of the road.
The driver failed a preliminary breath test and was arrested for drink driving. His blood was later found to contain 145 microgrammes of ethanol per 100ml of blood.
His two children were taken to hospital with a scalp abrasion and abdominal pain.
The court heard that the driver had been convicted in 2015 of careless driving and drink driving. He had driven while drunk and fell asleep in a stationary car.
When the police woke him up, he drove forward and struck the police car.
SENTENCING ARGUMENTS
Deputy Public Prosecutor Sean Teh sought a jail term of between 12-and-a-half years and 14-and-a-half years, along with a fine of S$12,000 and a driving ban of 15 years.
Mr Teh said the man had driven in an extremely dangerous manner, speeding excessively and causing the instant death of the victim.
He also caused hurt to his two young children in the back seat, and had a high culpability as he was sleep-deprived, had consumed a drowsiness-inducing medicine that morning and drank alcohol.
He also placed his children in great potential harm, and it was fortuitous that they suffered only minor injuries, said Mr Teh.
He said there was a "clear increasing trend of danger" compared with the 2015 conviction.
The man, who works at a bank, is the sole breadwinner of the family, said his lawyers, Mr Shashi Nathan and Ms Harjeet Kaur from Withers KhattarWong.
They called for six years and four months' jail to eight years' jail for the dangerous driving charge, to run concurrently with nine months and two weeks to 12 months' jail for the drink driving charge, along with a fine of S$10,000 and 80 months' disqualification from driving.
Mr Nathan said his client had looked after his newborn daughter the night before the accident as he wanted his wife to rest.
He estimated that he slept for almost four hours.
Mr Nathan argued that the cetirizine his client took in the morning did not contain any warning about drowsiness and had in fact been prescribed for consumption in the morning.
He said his client was "in a state of shock" after the collision and was "horrified" by the incident.
"The incident and the impending court proceedings have affected him emotionally," said Mr Nathan. "Needless to say, this incident is a traumatic experience (that) will be etched in our client's memory forever."
He said the accident did not take place at a signalised junction where one would ordinarily expect pedestrians to be crossing the road.
There was an overhead bridge less than 100m away from where the victim had crossed the road, said the lawyer. The victim was also crossing the road towards a canal, which was not a location where pedestrians were expected to cross.
The man is on bail pending an appeal against his sentence.
Sign up for our newsletters
Get our pick of top stories and thought-provoking articles in your inbox
Get the CNA app
Stay updated with notifications for breaking news and our best stories
Get WhatsApp alerts
Join our channel for the top reads for the day on your preferred chat app