Jailed 4 weeks for causing death by negligent act

A 34-YEAR-OLD man who drove his nephew's lorry without consent or a valid licence ran over an elderly man while reversing the vehicle.

He continued to reverse the lorry from the service road in a Jurong housing estate, unaware that the 81-year-old man had been pinned under his vehicle and was being dragged for about 4m.

Yesterday, freelance attendant Mohamed Shafarudin Mohamed Mokthar was jailed for four weeks and banned from driving for five years for negligently causing Mr Ang Kum Lor's death along the service road into Block 116, Ho Ching Road, on Oct 6 last year.

He was also fined $2,400 in all for taking the lorry without the owner's consent, driving without a licence and removing the vehicle without police authority when he left the scene after an ambulance took Mr Ang away.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Zhang Hongchuan said Shafarudin was driving the Mitsubishi lorry along the two-way service road at about 11.25am that day when he reversed it against the flow of traffic.

Shafarudin's lawyer said he did this as there were cars parked along the road and he could not turn the vehicle around.

Ms Zhang said Shafarudin failed to notice Mr Ang, who was walking behind with the aid of a cane.

The lorry struck Mr Ang and he fell. Shafarudin continued to reverse the vehicle, dragging Mr Ang under it and leaving a 4.4m trail of blood.

He stopped only when a passer-by knocked on his passenger door to tell him he had hit someone.

Shafarudin got down and called the police, but did not say he was the driver or that he was involved in the accident.

When the police contacted him, he initially said he was a passer- by and that there was a taxi near the scene.

Later that day, he admitted to the offence and surrendered himself at Traffic Police headquarters.

He had been disqualified from driving after failing to attend a court summons for an unrelated parking offence in 2012.

Shafarudin could have been jailed for up to two years and/or fined for causing death by a negligent act.

This article was first published on June 9, 2015.
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