Swimming instructor gets 5 months' jail for injuring 4 people in drink driving accident
File photo of a gavel. (Photo: Jeremy Long)
SINGAPORE: A freelance swimming instructor who caused a traffic accident while drunk, injuring four people, was on Wednesday (Jun 20) sentenced to five months' jail and a fine of S$1,000.
Lim Wen Bin Stanley, 33, drove from his home in Bukit Panjang to Bukit Batok Swimming Complex for an evening swimming lesson on May 26 last year.
He had consumed some alcohol before driving, the court heard.
While turning right onto Dairy Farm Road from Petir Road, he lost control of his vehicle and mounted the kerb at the centre divider.
He continued driving, colliding into a car and a motorcycle in front of it. The impact caused another motorcycle to topple over.
Lim did not stop to help the four victims - the driver of the car he hit, the riders of both motorcycles and the pillion of the toppled bike.
Instead, he drove off, beating a red light and driving against traffic.
VICTIM TRIED TO PURSUE HIM ON FOOT
An eyewitness, Mr Abdul Rahim Mohd Sultan, saw the accident unfold. After the accident, Lim drove against the flow of traffic, with one of the victims chasing after him on foot.
The eyewitness followed Lim in his vehicle and found him with his car at the end of Chestnut Avenue.
Lim was taken to a traffic police station and failed a breathalyser test, in which he registered a reading of 82mg of alcohol per 100ml of his breath, exceeding the limit of 35mg per 100ml.
Lim was convicted for the offences of drink driving, rash driving and failing to render assistance by district court judge Kessler Soh.
The accident left multiple scratches on the first victim's car, dents and cracks on one motorcycle, and ripped off the fencing on the other motorcycle.
Lim had also driven his car into green railings along Petir Road, which caused damages of about S$360.
On top of his sentence, he will be disqualified from driving for four years upon release from prison.
He asked for a week's deferment in order to make arrangements for his swimming trainees and his family.
Deputy Public Prosecutor M Kayal Pillay said it was "pure luck" that none of the four victims suffered more serious injuries - two of them suffered bodily pain and took sick leave.
"This is not a momentary loss of control or lack of consciousness of the danger he posed," she said. "Rather, even after the first point of loss of control, he continued driving on, heedless of others' safety."
