Drink driver who caused Gojek driver's death loses appeal against 7-year jail term

Despite severe penalties and jail time, some drivers continue to gamble with their lives and those of others, said the High Court.

- David Sun

And in the case of Jeremiah Ng En You, 36, who killed one person and injured six others in December 2021, the heaviest punishment for him will be the lifelong burden of knowing that his irresponsible and selfish action of drink driving claimed an innocent life, it added.

On July 14, the High Court published its grounds of decision for dismissing Ng's appeal against his seven-year jail sentence for dangerous driving causing death.

It had made the judgment on March 19.

The court noted that while he had shown remorse by making voluntary compensation of about $457,000, such efforts were outweighed by the harm caused by the accident.

Ng was sentenced in October 2023 after pleading guilty to one count of drink driving and another for causing the death of a Gojek driver by driving in a dangerous manner.

He will also be disqualified from driving for 12 years after his release.

The district judge who sentenced him at the time had said he treated the roads "like the Grand Prix driving circuit".

On the night of Dec 23, 2021, Ng had dinner with his brother and two friends at his office in Tampines Street 93, and drank four cans of beer.