Ex-national athlete charged with drink driving to plead guilty

SINGAPORE: A basketball player was charged on Thursday (Apr 4) with drink driving and driving without due care and attention. 

Toh Qing Huang, 29, who represented Singapore in the sport at the 2023 SEA Games in Cambodia, was said to have committed a drink driving offence last year. 

He allegedly had no less than 69 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath, while driving a car along Paterson Road towards Scotts Road on Nov 30, 2023 at about 4.37am. 

The amount of alcohol exceeded the prescribed limit of 35 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath. 

At the same location and time, Toh allegedly failed to have proper control of his car, which mounted the centre divider and collided into a directional sign.

Toh is set to plead guilty on May 30. 

According to Sport Singapore's website, Toh also participated in the 2015 and 2019 SEA Games. He was also on the 2015-16 roster of the Singapore Slingers, the country's only professional basketball team. 

Basketball Association of Singapore (BAS) CEO Leon Neo told CNA that while Toh used to play in the national 5x5 team, he did not have any agreement with the association at the moment.

"BAS takes a serious view of misconduct by all our national athletes who have signed athlete agreement with us. BAS will not hesitate to take disciplinary action against those who fail to adhere to the code of conduct and discipline."

If convicted of driving without due care and attention, where the accused is a serious offender, he can be jailed for up to a year, or fined between S$2,000 (US$1,483) to S$10,000, or both, in addition to other penalties. 

If convicted of drink driving for a first time, he may be jailed up to a year, or fined between S$2,000 and $10,000, or both. 

He may also be disqualified from driving for at least two years.