SINGAPORE: The guilty plea hearing for a 19-year-old who was in a motorcycle chase along Seletar Expressway that killed a Land Transport Authority (LTA) officer has been pushed back to January.
The young man, who has been remanded for over five months since the fatal accident, appeared in court briefly for what was meant to be his guilty plea hearing on Friday.
However, his lawyer Foo Ho Chew from H C Law Practice asked for a four-week adjournment.
Mr Foo said the address on sentence (AOS), where the prosecution sets out what sentence it is seeking, was filed only on Nov 11, because of a “late investigation” for certain charges.
“We only had sight of it on the 12th, and I have not yet conveyed the contents of the AOS to my client,” said the lawyer.
He said he intended to see his client on Nov 21 to go through the contents of the document with him and take further instructions.
Deputy Principal District Judge Kessler Soh said he was prepared to adjourn the matter but said he would not be available in four weeks’ time, or in December.
He fixed the guilty plea hearing for Jan 10.
The teenager appeared from his place of remand via video link, wearing headphones, listening intently and asking to speak in English.
He cannot be named under the Children and Young Persons Act as he was 17 at the time of one of his charges.
He faces a total of 13 charges, including possessing drugs at a Woodlands flat, consuming methamphetamine, having a Samurai sword and riding a motorcycle without a licence or insurance.
The bulk of his alleged offences occurred on Jun 4.
At the time, he was wanted by the police for absconding in October 2023 before he was about to be sent to a community rehabilitation centre for drug-related issues.
When the late LTA officer Mr Zdulfika Ahakasah spotted him riding a motorcycle along the SLE, he asked the teen to stop, but the teenager allegedly defied his order.
In the ensuing chase, the teenager allegedly cut across two lanes from the road shoulder near the Tampines Expressway exit and across the chevron marking of the expressway divider.
Mr Zdulfika got into an accident with two lorries and a van and was taken to hospital, where he died.
The teenager’s case went viral due to his remarks when he was first charged and without legal representation.
He said: “I gambled my life as much as he gambled his. So the death … I may be one of the contributing factors to the death, but I am not to be blamed.”
Of the offences, the heftiest possible penalties are drug-related – he could be jailed for up to 10 years, fined up to S$20,000 or both for possessing or consuming drugs.
