On Thursday (1 August), a 68-year-old Singaporean, Ng Hock Keong, admitted guilt to one charge of causing severe injury through carelessness after he drove over the foot of an officer checking fuel tanks at Woodlands Checkpoint.
He was fined S$4,000 and ordered to pay S$2,516 in compensation to the victim. Additionally, he received a two-month driving ban, reported Channel NewsAsia (CNA).
Source: The Edge Malaysia on Facebook, for illustration purposes only.
According to CNA, on 7 June 2022, a 31-year-old auxiliary police officer was carrying out fuel checks at Woodlands Checkpoint.
His job was to make sure that cars leaving Singapore for Malaysia had at least three-quarters of fuel in their gas tank.
It is required by law under the Customs Act to prevent drivers from going to Malaysia to get cheaper fuel and avoid paying fuel taxes in Singapore.
If the officer saw a car with less than three-quarters of a tank, he was tasked to tell the driver to park the car to the side and accompany the officer to a nearby office.
At around 11pm, Ng was driving at Woodlands Checkpoint and had stopped for a fuel check as instructed by the officer.
However, as the victim walked closer to his vehicle, Ng drove forward as he thought the officer had signalled for him to do so.
As a result, the right rear tyre of his car ran over the officer’s left foot, prompting him to yell at Ng to stop.
At this point, the officer was not in pain and wanted to avoid escalating the situation. He then asked Ng to park nearby.
Upon further checks, the officer saw that Ng’s car had less than three-quarters of fuel in his tank. He then took Ng to the office so that the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers could handle the situation.
The officer didn’t tell Ng that his foot had been run over to avoid a confrontation. Instead, he informed his ICA colleagues about the injury.
A couple of hours later, he began to feel pain and went to the hospital to get it checked. An x-ray suggested a possible separation of a joint.
The officer was given 14 days of hospitalisation leave. He also filed a police report.
Later, he was hospitalised again and received a total of about 150 days of hospitalisation leave, according to CNA.
The officer underwent surgery on his midfoot on 10 June after being diagnosed with a ligament injury.
Source: Dr. Elton for illustrative purposes only.
He incurred medical bills amounting to around S$23,000; however, most of the cost was covered by insurance.
The prosecutor requested a fine of between S$4,000 and S$5,000 for Ng and a six-month driving ban.
She noted Ng’s clean driving record, his guilty plea, and that the incident seemed to be an isolated mistake.
For causing grievous hurt by a negligent act, Ng could have gotten a jail term of up to two years, received a fine of up to S$5,000, or both.
Also read: Bus driver jailed 3 weeks for running over elderly woman’s legs at Woodlands Checkpoint
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Featured image adapted from The Edge Malaysia on Facebook, for illustration purposes only.
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