SINGAPORE — A 61-year-old man was jailed eight weeks and fined S$600 on Wednesday (Oct 19) after he was caught on video trying to drive his Bentley into Red Swastika School when a security officer was standing in front of his car.

The incident made headlines in January when video footage of Neo Hong Chye’s actions at the primary school in Bedok North circulated online.

While taking his granddaughter to school with his wife in the front passenger seat, he attempted to bypass a queue of cars to enter the school's main gate.

On Wednesday, he pleaded guilty in the State Courts to one charge each of driving without third-party insurance coverage as well as causing hurt to the security officer, 62-year-old Neo Ah Whatt, by a rash act.

Neo was jailed for the rash act offence, and was fined and disqualified from driving for 12 months for the other offence.

His son, Glynn Neo Jia, 28, has been charged with altering the Bentley Flying Spur's licence plate number and permitting the older Neo to use a vehicle without having insurance coverage. His case is pending before the courts.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Ben Mathias Tan told the court on Wednesday that a certificate of insurance only covered the Bentley for motor trade purposes and not for private use. Neo Hong Chye was also not a named driver under the insurance policy.

The prosecutor added that to his understanding, the Bentley belonged to the younger Neo's car business. It had been parked near Neo Hong Chye's home that morning.

When questioned by District Judge Lim Tse Haw on why the licence plate had been changed, DPP Tan said it was for "photoshoot purposes" for Glynn Neo's business.

This was also not Neo Hong Chye's first brush with the law, the prosecutor said. He was jailed four weeks in 2015 for voluntarily causing hurt.

During that incident, he punched a lorry driver in the face after pulling the driver out of the vehicle. The victim had scolded him for cutting into his lane without signaling.

WHAT HAPPENED

On the morning of Feb 11 this year at around 7.30am, Neo Hong Chye drove the Bentley — which had an unladen weight of 2,525kg — to Red Swastika School to drop off his granddaughter.

He waited in the first lane of Bedok North Avenue 3 in order to enter the school's main gate. There was constant pedestrian and vehicular flow there at the time, which the victim was tasked with managing. 

Neo then attempted to bypass the queue by going to the next lane.

But before he could enter the school via an exit gate next to the entrance, the victim asked him to stop his car and then motioned for him to proceed to the side gate leading to an open-air car park.

Neo then inched the Bentley forward against the victim's body for several seconds, causing the victim to step backwards.

He got out of his car and asked the security officer why he could not enter through the main gate. 

The victim explained that Neo was not in the queue, and again requested that he go to the side gate. The victim also sought the assistance of the school's operations manager, who came over and explained that Neo was not entering the school via the right way.

Neo then got back into the Bentley while the victim was standing in front of it, and inched the vehicle forward again for about 15 seconds. This caused the victim to stumble backwards at one point.

The school's operations manager then tapped on the Bentley and asked Neo to stop moving forward. He stopped and the manager eventually allowed him to enter through the main gate.

The victim reported the incident to the police later that afternoon and sought medical attention after feeling pain in his right knee. He was given three days of medical leave.

'TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE': JUDGE

On Wednesday, DPP Tan sought at least eight weeks' jail for the rash act offence, along with a fine of S$600 to S$800 and a 12-month driving ban for the insurance offence. He argued that security officers deserve protection under the law.

Citing a 2021 Parliamentary debate, DPP Tan noted that between 2018 and 2020, an average of 150 cases of abuse against security officers were reported every year. 

A survey also found that four in 10 security officers experienced some form of abuse at their workplace.

The prosecutor added: “The accused’s rash and belligerent conduct behind the wheel of the Bentley demonstrated a plain disregard for the safety of the victim and surrounding pedestrians.”

In mitigation, Neo Hong Chye's lawyer John Lim conveyed his client's apologies to the court, the public and the victim.

"He is very remorseful and since the start of the year when the incident happened, he has not had a restful night. His family was harassed in all ways," the defence counsel from Limn Law Corporation said.

Mr Lim told the court that according to his client, Red Swastika School did not issue any advisory for those ferrying children to the school that they had to join the queue.

It was also Neo's first time taking his granddaughter to school and he initially missed the turn before making a U-turn and joining the queue.

Because of this, his wife started scolding him for not checking the directions and potentially making their granddaughter late for school, said Mr Lim.

"He did not want to incur the wrath of (his wife) again if he had to make yet another U-turn," the lawyer added. 

The lawyer said that his client inched his car forward "under the assumption or in the hopes" that the victim would move aside, not knowing that the other man's knees had come into contact with the Bentley's front bumper.

Mr Lim told the court that his client tried to reach out to the victim to personally apologise to him, but the victim "decided to let the law take its course".

When the lawyer argued that the victim had stopped his client in a yellow box and obstructed traffic, District Judge Lim stopped him and warned that he seemed to be blaming the victim despite saying he was not trying to do that.

Mr Lim then told the court that his client had "acted out of character", having arranged for charitable donations and medical supplies for clinics last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

"If he doesn't care about the wider community and others, he would not have done that," said the defence counsel.

In his sentencing remarks, District Judge Lim said that security officers "play an important and critical role in safeguarding the security and safety of premises and the people where they're employed".

"They deserve our cooperation and respect... What the accused did was totally unacceptable and deserves the court's strongest disapproval. There is no place in our society for such reckless and inconsiderate behaviour," said the judge.

Referencing Neo Hong Chye's past conviction, District Judge Lim said that the accused also showed "a certain degree of persistence and belligerence" in the present case.

He began serving his sentence immediately.

For committing a rash act causing hurt, he could have been jailed up to one year or fined up to S$5,000, or both.

Those convicted of using a vehicle without insurance can be jailed up to three months or fined up to S$1,000, or punished with both.

Offenders will also be disqualified from holding or obtaining a driving licence for a period of 12 months from the date of the conviction.