Woman and father who went to jail in her place over traffic accident charged with perverting justice
The State Courts in Singapore. (File photo: CNA/Calvin Oh)
SINGAPORE: A woman whose father went to jail in her place over a traffic accident was charged with conspiring to pervert the course of justice on Thursday (Oct 27), along with her father.
Audrey Ong Hui Ling, 26, was handed four fresh charges. These are for conspiring with her father to pervert the course of justice, driving without a licence, driving without insurance and causing grievous hurt to a motorcyclist by a negligent act endangering human life.
According to charge sheets, she was allegedly driving her father's car without a licence when she failed to stop the vehicle to check for oncoming traffic along Tampines Avenue 2 on Oct 15, 2019.
She then executed a U-turn and collided with a motorcycle, leaving the motorcyclist with a fractured wrist.
Her father, 56-year-old David Ong, was given three charges mirroring his daughter's. They are for conspiring to pervert the course of justice by agreeing to assume criminal liability and for allowing his daughter to drive his car when she had no driving licence nor insurance.
The pair hired lawyer S S Dhillon, who asked for time to take instructions, saying this was a "complex case".
They will return to court next month.
THE CASE
The High Court quashed David's conviction earlier this month. According to proceedings then, David allegedly took Audrey's place even though the latter was behind the wheel during the October 2019 accident.
David pleaded guilty in September 2020 to the offence of causing grievous hurt by an act in a negligent manner endangering human life or the personal safety of others.
He was sentenced to five days' jail, which he served, and was banned from driving for two years.
At the time, he claimed he was responsible for the accident, which was a result of his negligence and fatigue from working long hours.
However, in April this year, the police were alerted to an audio recording from David's in-car camera of a conversation he had with his daughter. Court documents did not indicate who alerted the police.
The conversation suggested that David told his daughter he would "take her place", the High Court stated on Oct 7.
The penalties for conspiring to pervert the course of justice are a jail term of up to seven years, a fine, or both.
For causing grievous hurt by a negligent act, Audrey could be jailed for up to two years, fined up to S$5,000, or both.
For allowing his daughter to drive his car when she did not have a licence or insurance, David could be jailed for up to three months, fined up to S$1,000, or both.
