SINGAPORE – A night spent drinking with his father and uncle left Eugene Yeo Bing Kun so heavily intoxicated that he smashed into three parked vehicles at a car park in Yishun.

At the time of the collision, which happened around midnight on May 4 last year, Yeo was driving his father home in his company’s lorry.

After the crash, Yeo got into a heated argument with a passerby and later insulted two police officers who arrived at the scene.

The 32-year-old pleaded guilty on Tuesday (June 2) to a charge each of driving while intoxicated and disorderly behaviour, and two charges of using abusive words on a public servant.

He was jailed four weeks and fined S$1,000. He will also be disqualified from holding or obtaining all classes of driving licences for a period of 18 months after his release from prison.

A single charge of driving a motor vehicle without reasonable consideration for other persons using the road was taken into consideration during sentencing.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Lim Ying Min told the court that the accident, which happened at the open-air car park of Block 288 Yishun Avenue 6, had drawn the attention of many residents and even Yeo’s wife.

The prosecutor said that a passerby had confronted Yeo about the accident, which resulted in the pair arguing with each other. Yeo and his father then began shouting vulgarities “at the top of their voices”, DPP Lim said.

“This disturbed the neighbourhood and attracted the attention of many residents,” she said. “A crowd gathered to watch.”

When police officers, Staff Sergeant (SSG) Ricky Lau and Special Constabulary Sergeant Muhammad Nabhan, arrived at the scene, they warned Yeo and his father that they should stop shouting.

However, this went unheeded. Instead, Yeo let fly a string of vulgarities uttered in a mixture of English, Hokkien and Malay at the officers.

The officers also noticed that Yeo “reeked strongly of alcohol”, but were unsuccessful in their attempts to administer a breathalyser test on him.

Aside from being uncooperative, Yeo resisted arrest, which led to the officers employing “necessary force” to put him into custody, DPP Lim added.

A sample of Yeo’s blood found that it contained 153mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood, which was over the prescribed limit of 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood. 

DPP Lim said that the total cost of damage caused by Yeo’s vehicular collision was S$7,000. No one was injured.

Separately, the court heard that Yeo was involved in a family dispute with his mother late on Feb 23 this year.

When the police arrived at the unnamed location at around midnight on Feb 24, the officers — which included SSG Lau — noticed that Yeo was “heavily intoxicated”.

Yeo, who recalled his previous encounter with SSG Lau, verbally abused the officer by using so much vulgarities they filled up three pages in court documents.

He also told SSG Lau that he remembered him as the one who had “charged him” and caused him “many, many problems”.

He also threatened to punch SSG Lau and even challenged the officer to charge him again.

Yeo, who was not represented by a lawyer in court, pleaded for leniency.

Speaking in Mandarin, he asked to be put on probation so that he could work part-time to support his wife and young daughter as he had been out of a job for three months. Yeo’s previous occupation was not stated, nor was it mentioned why he had lost his job.

In response, DPP Lim said that probation was the “exception rather than the norm” for adults his age.

She said that rehabilitation for adults will be considered only if the particular offender demonstrates a “strong propensity” for reform or if there are exceptional circumstances to meet the requirements for probation.

Neither of the two were present in this case, DPP Lim said, adding that Yeo also has a history of traffic-related offences.  

The punishment for anyone caught driving under the influence of alcohol for the first time is a fine of S$1,000 to S$5,000 or a jail term of up to six months. They are also liable to be disqualified from holding or obtaining a driving licence for at least 12 months from the date of their conviction or release from prison.

Those found guilty of disorderly behaviour could be fined up to S$2,000 or jailed up to six months, while those who insult a public servant can expect a fine of up to S$5,000 or a jail term of up to 12 months, or both.