Maserati Driver Who Missed 3 Court Dates Due to MCs Jailed 55 Months & Banned from Driving for Life

A Maserati driver-

@ForgetMeNot44: Wait, that sounds familiar…

Yes, a Maserati driver-

@ForgetMeNot44: Wait, there was a Maserati driver who dragged a Traffic Police officer for 124 metres back in 2017?

Yes, that Maserati driver-

@ForgetMeNot44: Ah, he was such a nice young man. His name was…Kelvin, I believe.

GODDAMNIT. Will you let me finish?!

@ForgetMeNot44: So rude. I won’t forget this.

…Trust me, you will.

The infamous Maserati driver that everybody knows has been sentenced today (28 Jul 2020).

Here’s what the driver, Lee Cheng Yan, got:

• 55 months in prison (4 years 7 months)
• A $3,700 fine
• A lifetime driving ban

The judge who sentenced Lee said that his offences “warranted a retributive and deterrent sentence”.

What He Did:

If you’re wondering why he was given such a harsh sentence and what exactly he did, here’s a short refresher:

As our dearest ForgetMeNot44 has said, Lee was the Maserati driver who dragged a police officer for 124 metres along the road while driving at 79 to 84kmph.

On Nov 2017, Staff Sergeant Khairulanwar Abd Kahar spotted Lee driving without wearing his seatbelt.

He signalled for Lee to stop but he only came to a stop at a red light.

SSG Khairulanwar parked his motorcycle in front of Lee’s car and walked towards the driver seat and Lee wound down his window.

Unfortunately, when the light turned green, Lee reversed and took off with SSG Khairulanwar still stuck to his car.

The TP officer was dragged for 124 metres before he managed to drop away from the car.

Then, instead of stopping to render help, Lee drove off.

The TP officer had to be given 20 days of medical leave and had his medical fitness permanently downgraded (as is his career).

Lied To The Police

The police eventually caught up to Lee and he was arrested.

However, he decided that the best way to not be punished is to create a fictitious character named Kelvin.

Lee told the police that he wasn’t driving his vehicle at that time. He had loaned it, reluctantly, to a man named Kelvin whom he only knew for five months.

He did not even know Kelvin’s last name and address, and a number he provided was “not in use”.

Lee was eventually found guilty of 10 charges “beyond reasonable doubt”.

Chao Geng Out Of Court Sessions?

Lee was supposed to be sentenced on 1 April 2020, but he had a 5-day MC. Usually, you still need to attend court even with an MC, because this line would be printed bigly on most MCs: “This certificate is not valid for absence from court attendance.”

You can only avoid heading down to the court if you have a Medical Certificate (MC) with the words “Unfit to attend Court”.

The next sentencing was on 30 June 2020, and once again, he was on a 5-day MC—from the same clinic.

So that was postponed to 21 July 2020…and he’s still sick, with an MC from 20 July to 23 July for acute respiratory illness…from the same clinic again.

After that, the court set the condition that if he is sick again on his next hearing, 28 Jul 2020, he must present himself at a government clinic for a swab test.

Unsurprisingly, he turned up in court today (28 July 2020), which is why there’s finally a conclusion to this case.

Lee says, through his lawyer, that he will be appealing against his conviction and sentence.

But for now, we can heave a sigh of relief, knowing that there’s one less reckless driver on the roads of Singapore. For now.

Unless Kelvin really exists.