Teen in SLE bike chase that killed LTA officer pleads guilty to 6 charges; to be sentenced on Jan 23

SINGAPORE: A 19-year-old who was in a motorcycle chase along Seletar Expressway (SLE) that killed a Land Transport Authority (LTA) officer pleaded guilty to six charges on Friday (Jan 10), including riding a motorcycle in a manner dangerous to the public.

The Singaporean cannot be named under the Children and Young Persons Act, as he was 17 at the time of one of his charges.

He faces a total of 13 charges, including possessing drugs at a Woodlands flat, consuming methamphetamine, possessing a Samurai sword and riding a motorcycle without a licence or insurance.

Addressing the court on Friday, Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Thaddeus Tan said the prosecution would proceed on six of the 13 charges:

• One count of possessing a scheduled weapon
• One count of consuming a specified drug
• One count of driving a motor vehicle in a dangerous or reckless manner
• One count of riding a motorcycle without a valid licence
• One count of illegally disclosing his SingPass login credentials for an unlawful purpose
• One count of possessing a controlled drug

The remaining seven charges will be taken into consideration in sentencing.

The bulk of his offences occurred on Jun 4 last year.

FATAL SLE BIKE CHASE

On the morning of Jun 4, the late LTA officer Zdulfika Ahakasah had spotted the teen riding a motorcycle along the SLE. 

The court heard that the motorcycle belonged to the teen’s cousin, who had entrusted him with the vehicle for repair.

After inspecting the motorcycle, however, the teen kept the keys to the motorcycle. On the day of the incident, he rode the motorcycle despite knowing that he did not have permission from his cousin to do so.

As he was riding along the expressway, Mr Zdulfika noticed that the motorcycle did not have any side mirrors attached and that the teen's helmet had a tinted visor. 

Wanting to stop the teen so he could make checks on the motorcycle, Mr Zdulfika signalled for the teen to stop along the road shoulder.

At the time, the teen was wanted by the police for absconding in October 2023 before he was about to be sent to a community rehabilitation centre for drug-related issues.

Seeing that Mr Zdulfika was a uniformed officer and knowing that he was wanted by the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB), the teen began to accelerate to try to lose the LTA officer and escape arrest.

In the ensuing chase, the teenager cut across two lanes from the road shoulder and across the chevron marking of the expressway divider.

In his pursuit, Mr Zdulfika crashed into the road divider and was flung off his bike. He was taken to a hospital, where he died.

“UTTER LACK OF REMORSE”

Addressing the court on Friday, DPP Tan sought a jail term of between two years and three-and-a-half months and two years and five-and-a-half months, six strokes of the cane, and a five-year disqualification from driving all classes of vehicles.

DPP Tan said that the consideration for rehabilitation is displaced by the need for deterrence and retribution in this case.

While rehabilitation would focus on reforming the teen, DPP Tan pointed out that the teen had “chosen to commit serious crimes over and over again”.

“The offences are serious, numerous, and the harm caused to others is severe. A man has died, and another has lost a fortune,” said DPP Tan, in reference to a separate charge where the teen had disclosed his SingPass details to an unknown person over Telegram, in return for the promise of loans of S$300 (US$220).

The teen had sought these illicit loans as he needed money to support himself, but knew that he would not be able to do legitimate work as he was wanted by the CNB for earlier drug-related offences.

His SingPass details were later used by the unknown person to create and gain control of bank accounts for receiving and transferring scam proceeds worth more than S$300,000.

Highlighting that the teen had committed 13 offences in 10 months, and how he had tried to run when caught instead of surrendering himself, DPP Tan said: “These choices – and they are choices – show underlying persistent offending.”

DPP Tan also noted that the teen’s culpability was “extremely high” as he had chosen to make two manoeuvres very close to the road dividers, and in front of an oil tanker, despite knowing that the risk of accident was high.

The DPP also pointed to the teen’s “utter lack of remorse” as he did not stop or called for an ambulance, despite knowing that the LTA officer had crashed and sustained injuries.

The teen had also “taken the opportunity to deflect blame” when he was first charged in court on Jun 6 last year, said DPP Tan.

The teen, who was without legal representation at the time, had appeared in court via video-link from his place of remand.

Asked if he had anything to say then, the teenager had said: “I gambled my life as much as he gambled his. So the death ... I may be one of the contributing factors to the death, but I am not to be blamed.”

In his written sentencing submissions, DPP Tan said: “(The teen’s) actions were not a one-off lapse of judgement, given that each of these events could have been a turning point for the accused to take responsibility and to turn over a new leaf. 

“Instead, he chose to commit further crimes. This is a pattern of behaviour and a propensity for crime which must be addressed through a robust sentence.”

“SORRY FOR MAKING THE STATEMENT”

Addressing the teen’s earlier statement, his defence lawyer, Mr Foo Ho Chew from H C Law Practice, said on Friday that his client was “sorry for making the statement” and that he was apologetic to the family of the deceased.

As the teen had been in remand since Jun 6 last year, Mr Foo said that this has given him the “time and opportunity to reflect on what he has done”.

“After much reflection done in the seven months, he is very, very remorseful and acknowledges all his wrongdoings, and vows to turn over a new leaf.”

While the defence had submitted a written mitigation plea, Mr Foo also delivered a short oral mitigation in court on Friday.

The defence lawyer highlighted that the teen was a young offender – having only been 18 years old at the time of the offence, and “severely lacking in maturity, state of mind, and a sense of how wrong he was”.

And while the teenager had provided his SingPass details to secure a loan of S$300, he was not involved in the operations of the scams and did not benefit from them, added Mr Foo.

“The accused is a very young person, just 19 years old now. He has potential for rehabilitative efforts, with strong support from his mother and sister.”

To this end, Mr Foo asked that the courts not impose a sentence that could be “so crushing for someone so young”.

Deputy Principal District Judge Kessler Soh adjourned the case for sentencing on Jan 23.