A teacher who admitted causing his mother's death through negligent driving was spared jail yesterday after his lawyer told a court how the ordeal had devastated him.
Tan Joo Nam, 51, had been driving his mother, Madam Lim Siam Whee, 77, and her elderly neighbour, Madam Tan Puay Chwan, 74, back home in Tiong Bahru from the Kwan Im Thong Hood Chinese Temple in Waterloo Street on 11th October 2011 after dawn prayers.
The accident happened at around 6:40am when the car collided with a rubbish truck at the junction of Seng Poh Road and Tiong Bahru Road while trying to run a red light.
His mother, seated in the rear, suffered multiple injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene - just minutes after praying with her son. Madam Tan, who was in the front, suffered rib fractures. Tan was reported to be suffering from major depression after the incident. His senior colleagues and close friends also wrote letters of support urging the court to show compassion.
Tan could have been jailed for up to two years and fined up to $30,000 but the unusual circumstances of the tragedy and his lawyer's plea for compassion helped support the case for a non-custodial penalty. Tan was fined $8,000 and banned from driving for five years.
Tan Joo Nam, 51, had been driving his mother, Madam Lim Siam Whee, 77, and her elderly neighbour, Madam Tan Puay Chwan, 74, back home in Tiong Bahru from the Kwan Im Thong Hood Chinese Temple in Waterloo Street on 11th October 2011 after dawn prayers.
The accident happened at around 6:40am when the car collided with a rubbish truck at the junction of Seng Poh Road and Tiong Bahru Road while trying to run a red light.
His mother, seated in the rear, suffered multiple injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene - just minutes after praying with her son. Madam Tan, who was in the front, suffered rib fractures. Tan was reported to be suffering from major depression after the incident. His senior colleagues and close friends also wrote letters of support urging the court to show compassion.
Tan could have been jailed for up to two years and fined up to $30,000 but the unusual circumstances of the tragedy and his lawyer's plea for compassion helped support the case for a non-custodial penalty. Tan was fined $8,000 and banned from driving for five years.
