Last year, a driver in Singapore inched his Bentley towards a security guard and struck him, injuring his knee.
61-year-old Neo Hong Chye received 8 weeks’ jail, a S$600 fine and a one-year driving ban on 19 Oct 2022.
His son, 29-year-old Glynn Neo Jia, has now pleaded guilty to altering the front and rear licence plates of the Bentley and letting his father use it without insurance coverage.
For his offences, he received a S$2,600 fine and a one-year driving ban.
On 11 Jan 2022, Hong Chye was driving his granddaughter to Red Swastika School when he attempted to bypass the queue of cars by turning left into the exit lane, according to Channel NewsAsia (CNA).
Security guard Neo Ah Whatt stopped him before he could do so and in the ensuing altercation, he inched the vehicle forward, making contact with Neo.
The incident left Neo with a bruise on his knee.
CNA reports that the Bentley belonged to Glynn’s motor trade business and he had altered the plates for a photo shoot for his firm.
Glynn’s lawyer, Ng Kai Ling, said in mitigation that Glynn and his brothers were helping with Hong Chye’s businesses, which specialise in civil engineering work or environment solutions for the construction industry.
In 2020, the family entered the car dealership business under Neo Times and allowed Glynn to helm the dealership.
They used a small area in a factory for a showroom to display the cars on sale. The Bentley involved in the incident belonged to the firm, and was among the cars displayed.
Ms Ng explained that vehicles with auspicious or lesser registration numbers like single-digit or double-digit figures are more desirable to car owners.
Since the industry experienced a slump in sales, Glynn’s father wanted to help his son sell the vehicles. Three days before the incident, Glynn held a photoshoot for some of the cars on sale, including the Bentley.
He wanted to photograph the car with the vehicle registration number SMP19J, which his father had from a previous vehicle.
Glynn took a photo of the Bentley with its original plates before changing them to SMP19J. Before he could photograph it, he had to attend to other work involving the unloading of construction materials.
The car was left with the new plates so that Glynn could continue the photoshoot later.
Ng stated that on the morning of the incident, Hong Chye wanted to drive his granddaughter to school.
They had placed a number of car keys in their possession in a tray next to the main door of their home.
Hong Chye had grabbed one of the car keys, only realising it was for the Bentley when he arrived at the car park.
Since he was in a rush, he entered the Bentley without a second thought.
As for the Bentley ending up in the car park, Glynn suggested that a worker for the business had driven it there after recognising that the car plate belonged to Hong Chye.
The display cars were also unlocked with keys on the dashboard to allow potential buyers to have test drives.
In addition, employees would usually help drive the family’s cars back to their residence.
Realising such practices increased the likelihood of misuse of the cars after the school incident, Glynn said he now keeps all showroom car keys in a key box.
The key box is located in a locked room at the factory showroom, accessible only by authorised people.
Ng asked the court to take into account Glynn’s early plea of guilt, and the measures taken to prevent repeat incidents which resulted in the driving of a showroom car without valid insurance coverage.
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Featured image adapted from Oh Singapore on Facebook.
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