17 weeks' jail for woman who perverted justice by allowing her father to take the rap for accident
The woman's father went to jail for her crime, but the ruse was unravelled when the motorcyclist's injury claim lawyers found audio from the in-car camera that cast doubt on who was the driver.
File photo of the State Courts in Singapore. (Photo: Calvin Oh)
Lydia Lam
14 Jun 2023 05:54PM (Updated: 14 Jun 2023 06:21PM)
BookmarkShare
SINGAPORE: A woman who drove her father's Grab car without a licence and caused an accident with a motorcyclist later conspired with her father so that he would take the rap in her stead.
As a result, the 57-year-old man went to jail on her behalf, and the pair had many discussions to get their versions of events straight.
However, the ruse was unravelled two-and-a-half years later when the motorcyclist mounted a personal injury claim and his lawyers discovered audio from the in-car camera that cast doubt on who was the driver.
Audrey Ong Hui Ling, 27, was sentenced to 17 weeks' jail, a fine of S$700 (US$522) and a driving ban of 24 months on Wednesday (Jun 14). She pleaded guilty to four charges, including the original one her father took the rap for of causing grievous hurt to the motorcyclist.
The other charges include conspiring with her father, David Ong, to pervert the course of justice and using a car without a valid insurance policy.
THE ACCIDENT
The court heard that David allowed Audrey to drive his rental Grab car on Oct 15, 2019. Defence lawyer S S Dhillon said this was because David was exhausted from driving that day.She made a U-turn along Tampines Avenue 2 without stopping at the stop line and without checking for traffic, colliding with a motorcycle that was going straight and had the right of way.
The impact caused the car to spin until it crashed into the roadside barrier, and the motorcycle broke apart from impact.
The 24-year-old motorcyclist was flung off his vehicle and landed a distance away, suffering multiple abrasions and a wrist fracture.
In later messages to her father, Audrey confessed that she just "forgot to stop" and had just followed the car in front "without thinking".
The motorcyclist later filed an insurance claim to seek compensation.
At the time of the accident, both Audrey and her father knew it was illegal for her to drive since she had no licence and was not covered by insurance.
THE CONSPIRACY
Immediately after the accident, David decided to assume criminal liability and told his daughter about it, and she agreed.When the police arrived, David lied to them that he was the driver, giving multiple false statements about his involvement.
He was later charged in court with the offence of causing grievous hurt by an act in a negligent manner endangering human life or the personal safety of others.
He pleaded guilty in September 2020, with his daughter serving as his bailor, and was later sentenced to five days' jail, which he served. In his mitigation, he said he was responsible for the accident, which was a result of his negligence and fatigue from working long hours.
The law firm representing the motorcyclist in his claim later wrote to the traffic police.
HOH Law Corporation alerted the police to audio from David's in-car camera that suggested he might not be the driver.
The police reinvestigated the case and reviewed the footage.
They questioned the father-daughter pair, who admitted to their lies. Audrey confessed that she had repeatedly discussed the accident with her father and told him her concerns about what would happen if the authorities ever found out the truth.
These discussions helped David's accounts to be consistent.
It was revealed that the pair were aware that the charge David faced often resulted in jail. They also knew that if the police discovered the truth, they would face not just traffic offences and could both be jailed for more than a week.
On the basis of the new information, the prosecution applied for a criminal revision in the High Court in September 2022 to quash David's wrongful conviction and sentence. This was granted a month later.
Audrey, who was 23 when she caused the accident, has no previous convictions.
PROSECUTION SEEKS JAIL
The prosecution asked for a jail term ranging from four months and one week to six months and two weeks, along with a fine of between S$500 and S$700 and a two-year disqualification from obtaining driving licences.Deputy Public Prosecutor Jean Goh said this was a protracted conspiracy involving detailed planning, discussion and persistence that resulted in an erroneous conviction and sentence.
At all times, Audrey knew that her actions were palpably wrong, said Ms Goh.
She knew that agreeing to the conspiracy would place her father in jail, even though he was innocent of causing the traffic accident, but she was undeterred, said the prosecutor.
She responded to the defence's arguments, saying no message should be sent that it's alright for parents to take the blame for their children.
MISERABLE FOR HER TO SEE FATHER IN JAIL: DEFENCE
Lawyer S S Dhillon urged the court to consider the "circumstances" of the case. He said his clients share a very good relationship, even though Audrey lives with her mother as her parents are separated.He said Audrey has a valid driving licence and insurance policy in America, but the judge interjected to remind him that she does not have these in Singapore.
Mr Dhillon said that immediately after the collision, David's "parental instinct" overwhelmed him and he decided to assume liability, in what Audrey did not initiate.
"But Mr Dhillon, she could have said no, right?" asked District Judge Kenneth Chin.
The lawyer conceded. He added that Audrey was shocked after the accident and went along with her father's plan.
"It was very miserable for this young girl to see her father serve a five-day sentence for an offence she committed. It wasn't easy for her, she had sleepless nights, this was her father," said Mr Dhillon.
"It is sad commentary that paternal instinct overwhelmed the father to initiate the offence," said the lawyer, adding that people "tend to make a wrong judgment" in such an unplanned and spur-of-the-moment situation.
The prosecutor responded that no mitigating weight ought to be given to the father-daughter relationship, and that the fact of the matter is that Audrey had allowed an innocent man to take the blame for an accident she had caused.
Ms Goh said there were ancillary considerations and it was not that David's motives were so pure and out of fatherly love like the defence depicted. Even if it was done out of fatherly love, it did not excuse an offender's perversion of justice.
Mr Dhillon said both his clients have no previous convictions before the accident occurred, and they agreed to pay S$49,000 to the motorcyclist via monthly instalments which began in September 2022.
David was supposed to plead guilty along with his daughter, but his lawyer told the court that David wanted to adjourn the case as he wanted to collect his six-month bonus as an IT consultant before tendering his resignation and settling the court case.
David will return to court in August to plead guilty to his role in the matter.
Source: CNA/ll(zl)
