42-year-old driver handed four charges over Tampines accident, including dangerous driving causing death

SINGAPORE: A driver involved in a multi-vehicle accident in Tampines that killed two people was charged in court on Thursday (Apr 25).

Muhammad Syafie Ismail, 42, was charged with four offences related to Monday's incident. 

Syafie arrived at court escorted by three men with lanyards – two in uniform and one in an AETOS polo T-shirt. 

The accused, who had his right arm in a sling, was dressed in a long-sleeved blue shirt and was wearing a black cap, sunglasses and a mask. 

Syafie faces one count each of dangerous driving causing death, dangerous driving causing hurt, dangerous driving, and failing to stop after an accident. All fall under the Road Traffic Act.

According to charge sheets, Syafie drove recklessly along Bedok Reservoir Road towards Tampines Avenue 4 at about 7.07am on Monday.

He allegedly made an abrupt lane change on the two-lane road to overtake a car on its right, then filtered back into the left lane in front of this car.

This purportedly resulted in a "sideswipe collision" with the car that caused it to veer to its left, with its left front and rear tyres grazing the left kerb of the road. Syafie allegedly failed to stop and provide his particulars after this accident. 

Charge sheets state that Syafie then failed to conform to a red traffic light signal while proceeding straight on along Bedok Reservoir Road towards Tampines Avenue 4.

His car then allegedly collided with another car that was travelling along Tampines Avenue 1 towards Tampines Avenue 10.

The impact is believed to have caused this car to spin and collide with a van before overturning. One of the people who died in the accident, 17-year-old Temasek Junior College student Afifah Munirah Muhammad Azril, was in this car.

In addition to this, the collision between the car and the van purportedly caused the van to collide with a minibus, hurting an 11-year-old boy who was on board.

The other person who died in the accident, 57-year-old pest control company employee Norzihan Juwahib, was a passenger in the van. The van's driver – a 64-year-old man – and another of the vehicle's passengers – a 39-year-old man – were also hurt in the accident.

Charge sheets say that the car Syafie was driving also collided with a car travelling along Tampines Avenue 1 towards Tampines Avenue 2, causing hurt to its driver – a 42-year-old woman – and its passenger, another 11-year-old boy.  

Syafie's car then allegedly surged forward to collide with another car that was also travelling along Tampines Avenue 1 towards Tampines Avenue 2, purportedly injuring its driver, a 42-year-old man.

Syafie is accused of causing the deaths of Afifah and Ms Norzihan while causing hurt to six people.

The prosecution sought four weeks' adjournment for investigations to be completed and for a Deputy Public Prosecutor's directions to be obtained after. She said that additional charges might be tendered and the authorities were awaiting medical reports.

District Judge Salina Ishak then asked Syafie, who was unrepresented, if he was seeking counsel. 

Syafie replied that he would be engaging a lawyer, but did not specify from where.

The prosecution applied for Syafie to be placed on court bail, with electronic tagging as one of the conditions. Bail was set at S$30,000 (US$22,000).

Asked about the e-tagging condition, the prosecution noted that Syafie's passport had been seized.

"However, in view of the seriousness of the offence, the prosecution requires an e-tag for monitoring as well as if there's any flight risk," the prosecutor said. 

Syafie objected to the application. He told the judge: "I don't think it's a necessary thing to put an e-tag because all my documents and passport have already been seized by the police and I am already on bail and today, I am also present."

He added that he would be present for all court matters but would leave the decision to court. 

In response, the prosecution referred to the charge for failing to stop after an accident, indicating it suggested "poor conduct" and "an element of flight risk". 

Syafie was placed on bail with all the conditions requested by the prosecution imposed. These include not interfering with any witness or obstructing the course of justice, not having contact with any of the prosecution witnesses and reporting to the investigation officer as and when required.

Syafie will return to court for a pre-trial conference on Jun 7.

The accident on Monday morning occurred at the junction of Tampines Avenue 1 and Tampines Avenue 4 and involved four cars, a van and a minibus.

Syafie was driving the black car that was caught on dashcam footage speeding and sideswiping a white car before a junction.

Moments later, multiple vehicles are seen damaged at the junction, with a black car overturned.

Apart from Afifah and Ms Norzihan, who died from their injuries, six others, including Syafie, were taken to hospital following the accident. Two other people who were in vehicles involved in the accident also sought medical attention on their own.

Syafie was arrested after he was discharged from hospital on Wednesday and his driving licence was suspended with immediate effect. 

The incident captured national interest, with footage of the incident circulated online. 

Police investigations are ongoing for other potential offences.

If convicted of dangerous driving causing death, Syafie may be jailed between two and eight years and disqualified from driving all classes of vehicles.

For dangerous driving causing hurt, he could be fined up to S$10,000, or jailed for up to two years, or both, and disqualified from driving all classes of vehicles.

If convicted of dangerous driving, he could face a fine of up to S$5,000, a jail term of up to 12 months, or both.

The offence of failing to stop after an accident carries a maximum fine of S$1,000, up to three months' jail, or both.

Editor's note: The spelling of Norzihan Juwahib's name and her age have been corrected in this article after the police advised that there were errors in the provided charge sheets.