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Appeal dismissed as High Court agrees duo used car as a pirate taxi
Published on Oct 21, 2011
By Khushwant Singh
In June, an uncle and his nephew were found guilty of using a private car for hire and fined $1,500 each. Lee Khee Hoon, 73, and Lee Kok Peng, 56, were also fined $500 for the vehicle not having valid insurance. In addition, both men were disqualified from driving for a year.
They had the appeal against their convictions dismissed by the High Court on Oct 21. Lee had argued that the prosecution had cited four vehicle licence plate numbers in its submissions when only one car was involved.
He said that he ran a small tour agency and had sold a Genting holiday package to Nepalese tourist Babina Gurung, 24, for $350. This would cover the cost of the coach trip to and fro Genting Highlands, one night's hotel accommodation there and breakfast. There was absolutely no charge for the trip to Johor Baru, he said through the court's Mandarin interpreter.
He had collected $300 from a Nepalese man with her on the morning of June 17, 2010. The remaining $50 would be paid on her return. The nephew then drove her in his uncle's car through the Tuas Checkpoint. Denied entry into Malaysia, she tried to return to Singapore.
Read the full story in Friday's edition of The Straits Times.
