TV actor Edwin Goh fined S$6,500 for drink driving, banned from driving for 3 years

SINGAPORE — Actor Edwin Goh was fined S$6,500 on one count of drink driving after he pleaded guilty at the State Courts on Thursday (Oct 13).

Goh, 28, was charged on the same day and appeared in court unrepresented. In addition to his fine, Goh was disqualified from driving for three years.

The court heard that on Sept 6 this year, Goh went to a restaurant in the Golden Mile area and had dinner. He later visited a bar where he drank alcohol. He left in the early morning the next day, intending to go home.

At about 2.37am on Sept 7, as Goh was driving, he was stopped along Aljunied Road and noted to reek of alcohol.

A breath analyser test was conducted and Goh was later arrested for drink driving.

The alcohol in his body was no less than 81 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath, which exceeded the legal limit of 35 mcg of alcohol in 100ml of breath.

The prosecutor sought a fine of S$6,500 for Goh, in addition to a disqualification period. He told the court that Goh had no similar previous offences. 

In mitigation, Goh told the court: "I have spent a lot of time reflecting on my mistake and I understand the gravity of my offence. I realise that this could ruin my future and has the potential to harm others as well.

"I hope by being compliant to the officers and this being my first-time offence, (this) could be taken into account (and) there could be some leniency shown."

In reply to queries from CNA, a spokesperson for Mediacorp said the company had spoken to Goh and understands that the incident took place last month.

"He deeply regrets his action and would like to apologise for the mistake. He would also like to assure everyone that this will not happen again," said the spokesperson.

"We would also like to emphasise that Mediacorp does not condone any behaviour that runs afoul of the law. We constantly remind our artistes that their fans and members of the public look to them as role models, and they are expected to behave as such. We will continue to counsel Edwin and will also be taking internal action regarding this."

Goh was awarded the Breakout Star of the Year at the Elle Awards 2012 and was one of the Top 20 Most Popular Male Artistes and was nominated for Most Popular Regional Artiste (Indonesia) in 2014.

He has starred in television dramas such A Million Dollar Dream, Old Is Gold, and My Star Bride.

For drink driving, Goh could have been jailed up to a year and/or fined between S$2,000 and S$10,000. CNA