CNA – When a lorry ferrying foreign workers from a work site collided with a cyclist at a zebra crossing, the driver asked a passenger if he could take the rap for him.
As the passenger was meant to be the assigned driver that day but did not perform the job, he agreed and lied to the police that he was behind the wheel. However, he changed his mind when he found out that the victim had died.
Indian national Rajendhiran Chelladurai, 28, was sentenced to three months’ jail yesterday for one count of perverting the course of justice.
Another two charges were taken into consideration.
The court heard that Rajendhiran was employed by Highness Electrical Engineering as a driver.
He was seated in the front cabin of a lorry with the driver and another passenger on April 16, 2022. There were another four workers seated in the back of the lorry.
The driver that day, 24-year-old Indian national Udaiyappan Vasanth, was ferrying the group to Tagore Lane from a work site.
Udaiyappan was on probation after obtaining his driving licence, with about two weeks to go before he completed his probation.
At the zebra crossing of Jalan Eunos towards the Eunos Link slip road into the Pan Island Expressway (Tuas), Udaiyappan hit a cyclist with his lorry. The cyclist, a 64-year-old Singaporean, was injured in the collision. Before the police and ambulance arrived, Udaiyappan asked Rajendhiran if Rajendhiran could be identified as the driver of the lorry, as Udaiyappan was afraid his licence would be revoked.
Rajendhiran agreed, as he was the assigned driver that day and said he was afraid his company would find out he did not drive that day.
The victim was taken unconscious to hospital but died of multiple injuries.
Both Rajendhiran and Udaiyappan lied to the police that Rajendhiran was the driver. Two days after the incident, Rajendhiran and Udaiyappan found out that the victim had died.
Rajendhiran told Udaiyappan that he no longer wanted to take the rap for him and both men told the police the truth.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Ng Jun Kai asked for four to six months’ jail for Rajendhiran, saying that the victim had passed away in the accident and that the accused had told the police he was the driver on three occasions.
“It’s clear from the facts that the accused only came clean after being notified that the victim had passed away,” said Ng.
“It should not be to his credit that he volunteered the truth – it’s clear that this course of action benefits himself, as he would therefore not have been reprimanded by his company.
It’s only because the victim passed away that he no longer wanted to be implicated by a potentially serious offence.”
Rajendhiran was represented by lawyers under the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme, who asked for not more than two months’ jail.
The judge noted that Rajendhiran voluntarily decided to come clean after three days, which meant that the impact of his offence on police investigations would have been “limited”.
