SINGAPORE — When the traffic police responded to a tip-off about an illegal car race on Lim Chu Kang Road, they found about 40 parked cars there, with spectators standing nearby.

An officer then saw Goh Tze Ming and Khairulanwar Ismail speed past him in their Volkswagen GTIs. Goh was driving at 132km/h, while the other man clocked 136km/h — both reaching almost twice the speed limit of 70km/h.

The two men claimed trial to charges of participating in an illegal racing competition in the wee hours of Dec 9, 2016.

On Tuesday (Sept 10), District Judge Carol Ling rejected their defences and found them guilty of the offence. She sentenced each man to five weeks’ jail, a fine of S$1,500, and a three-year driving ban.

They will begin serving their jail time on Sept 19.

When Goh, 37, was arrested, he told Sergeant Vincent Nai that he was rushing off to the toilet after leaving his friends. Khairulanwar, 28, testified that he was checking his engine check-light.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Senthilkumaran Sabapathy argued that their claims were “simply implausible and fanciful”.

The prosecution called five officers to the stand during the trial, including Sergeant Nai and Inspector Pardeep Dass, who were at the scene.

Inspector Pardeep testified that he led two other traffic police officers to Lim Chu Kang Road that night in an unmarked car.

At about 1am, he saw Goh and Khairulanwar drive past him, make a U-turn towards Jalan Bahar, and stop at a lamppost. They then accelerated and drove off at the same time.

Sergeant Nai testified that he chased the pair and clocked Goh at 132km/h. Another officer clocked Khairulanwar at 136km/h.

Video footage of the scene recorded by the officers was also submitted to the court.

“The video footage and eyewitness accounts show that there had been other similar races which took place just before the race between Goh and Khairulanwar. It is fanciful that they happened to also be speeding next to each other on the same stretch of road that night,” the prosecutor noted.

As first-time offenders, Goh and Khairulanwar could each have been jailed for up to six months, fined up to S$2,000 and banned from driving for at least a year.

Repeat offenders can be jailed for up to a year and fined up to S$3,000.