Indian-origin man jailed, fined for drunk driving in Singapore

Singapore, July 29

A 45-year-old Indian-origin man in Singapore has been sentenced to three weeks in prison and fined S$6,800 for drunk driving and abandoning his car on the road in a bid to avoid a police roadblock in 2019.

Manikam Varatharaj was convicted on Friday of one count each of drunk driving and leaving his car in a position that inconvenienced other road users, Channel News Asia reported.

He was was also banned from driving for 42 months.

A drunk Varatharaj was driving in Woodlands at about 2.30 a.m. on September 22, 2019 when he saw the police roadblock ahead of him, the court heard.

He turned into a small road leading to the Seagate and 3M Singapore buildings, and asked a security guard stationed there to look after the car as he "needed to go somewhere urgent".

The guard saw that Varatharaj appeared "panicky" and reeked of alcohol, so the former walked to the police roadblock and told an officer what happened.

After he was nabbed by the police, Varatharaj admitted he drank two cans of beer and was on his way home when he saw the roadblock.

At trial, Varatharaj claimed he had not seen the police roadblock, and that he stopped the car because his hands and legs were trembling.

The prosecution sought four to six weeks' jail, a fine between S$8,000 and S$10,000 and four years' driving ban.

Even though Varatharaj's first drink driving conviction was 19 years ago in 2004, he was also given composition fines for using a phone while driving in 2011, as well as for speeding in 2012, said the prosecutor.