Actor Shane Pow to plead guilty to drink driving

SINGAPORE — Television actor Shane Pow intends to plead guilty to his drink-driving charge, a court heard on Thursday (June 3).

Pow, whose full name is Pow Xun Ping, turned up in a white long-sleeved shirt and dark bottoms with his lawyer SS Dhillon.

The 30-year-old former Mediacorp actor was charged in April with driving a "motorvan" along Java Road towards Nicoll Highway at about 11.20pm on Sept 17 last year when he had at least 49 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of his breath, exceeding the 35mg limit.

Mr Dhillon told the court that he had made representations, or arguments, on behalf of his client sent to the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) on May 21 and is waiting for a reply.

"The accused wants to take a certain course as soon as possible," the lawyer said, explaining that Pow has an upcoming three-day course and asked to plead guilty on July 14.

A prosecutor from the AGC will be assigned to the case, the police prosecutor told the court.

Court documents stated that Pow was previously convicted in July 2014 of drink driving. 

If convicted again, he could be jailed for up to two years, fined between S$5,000 and S$20,000, and banned from driving for at least five years.

Pow was dubbed one of the "Eight Dukes of Caldecott Hill" in 2014. He was a Manhunt Singapore 2011 finalist and starred in television dramas, receiving nominations for Top 10 Most Popular Male Artiste for shows such as Served H.O.T and bagging a few wins.

He was embroiled in controversy in 2016 after he donned blackface for a drama series and Mediacorp was later fined S$5,500 by the Infocomm Media Development Authority over the incident.

Last year, he was given a composition fine of S$300 for attending a 13-person birthday party at fellow actor Terence Cao's home when Covid-19 safety regulations were in force.

After he was charged with the current drink-driving offence, Mediacorp said that it would "part ways" with the actor. Pow wrote an apology on Instagram later, saying that he had a rough few weeks and that he regretted his mistake deeply. CNA

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