Sister-in-law of George Clooney charged for drink driving in Singapore

The sister-in-law of Hollywood star George Clooney is facing a drink-drinking charge, six years after she was convicted of a similar offence.

Tala Alamuddin Le Tallec, 47, a Singapore permanent resident and older sister of human rights lawyer Amal Clooney, allegedly drove a BMW X5 while drunk in the early hours of May 14.

She faces one charge each of drink driving, using a car without a Singapore Class 3 driving licence, driving without insurance, and taking the car without the owner's consent.

Court documents said she was caught with 95 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath - more than twice the legal limit of 35 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath.

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She is alleged to have committed the offences while driving the luxury SUV on Holland Road towards Ulu Pandan at about 2.30am on May 14.

The identity of the owner of the BMW was not revealed in court.

Documents submitted in court showed that Le Tallec was previously convicted of drink driving in Singapore on April 15, 2013.

If convicted again, she could face jail time of up to a year.

While first-time offenders can be fined from $1,000 to $5,000 or jailed for up to six months, repeat offenders can face a fine of $3,000 to $10,000 and jail for up to a year.

Le Tallec was in court yesterday to apply for permission to travel to Bali from Aug 23 to Sept 3 for work purposes.

District Judge Lorraine Ho granted the application.

This is the second time she has been allowed to leave Singapore since the alleged offences, having travelled to Italy and the United Kingdom for work from July 13 to Aug 5.

Le Tallec, who is represented by lawyer Shashi Nathan, is out on bail totalling $20,000, of which $5,000 was mandated by the court for permitting her to travel outside Singapore.

She owns fashion brand Totally Tala, having previously worked as an events manager.

Registry of Marriage records show that Le Tallec married a man with a Singapore NRIC number in 2013.

She is expected to be back in court on Sept 19.

This article was first published in The New Paper. Permission required for reproduction.