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SINGAPORE – An error by a judicial officer led a 59-year-old convict to serve two more days behind bars, state courts said on Wednesday (September 2).
In a press release, the state courts said they “deeply regret what happened.” The courts also sent a letter of apology to the man, Teo Seng Tiong, through the Attorney General’s Office.
An internal review is underway, he added.
Teo, a truck driver, was involved in a highly publicized altercation with cyclist Eric Cheung Hoyu on Pasir Ris Drive 3 in December 2018. Since then, a video of the incident uploaded online has been viewed more than 3 million times.
After a trial, Teo was found guilty of causing harm to Cheung through a reckless act and for failing to report the accident to the police within 24 hours.
On January 14, he was sentenced to seven weeks in jail, a $ 500 fine and also banned from driving for two years. The default jail sentence for failure to pay the fine was three days.
Teo filed an appeal, which the Superior Court dismissed on July 20. He then paid his fine in Superior Court and began serving his seven-week jail sentence that day.
The State Courts said that he was informed by the Superior Court of the payment of the fine that same day.
“However, the State Courts official in charge of the case erroneously failed to update the Compromise Order and the State Courts case management system to reflect that the fine had been paid,” it said.
While the default jail term was three days, Teo served two days in jail due to a one-third referral given by the Singapore Prison Service for good behavior. She was released on August 24.
Later that day, the Penitentiary Service sent the State Courts a letter from Teo’s lawyer with the receipt of the payment of the fine attached.
“When the error was discovered, the state courts took immediate steps to review our work processes governing fines for state court cases that have been appealed to Superior Court. Since then we have implemented more safeguards, such as additional levels of controls, as well as beginning an internal review of the matter, ”the State Courts said.
“Depending on the outcome of the review, appropriate action (including disciplinary action) will be taken,” he added.
For his role in the road rage incident, Cheung, a British citizen, was fined $ 2,800 in April last year.
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