Mar 15, 2011 - Straits Times
Originally charged with drink-driving, he was convicted on amended charge without proof
By
Khushwant Singh
AN AUSTRALIAN had his three-week jail term for being unfit to drive
set aside, after the High Court found it 'troubling' that he was
convicted on an amended charge without being given the opportunity to
defend himself.
Justice Steven Chong said the non-compliance with the
Criminal Procedure Code was particularly serious in this case, as the
prosecution had not produced evidence to support the amended charge.
On June 23, 2008, John Peter Worrall, 60, the vice-president
of oil company Swiber Offshore Construction, was driving home to his
Bayshore condominium in East Coast at 11pm, after meeting colleagues at
Harry's Bar in Far East Shopping Centre.
His car went up a kerb and hit a tree along Bayshore Road. He was later arrested for drink-driving.
After an eight-day trial that ended in August last year, he
was convicted not of drink-driving, but of being unfit to drive. He was
also convicted of not exercising due care and attention while driving,
causing the accident - a charge he faced originally in addition to the
drink-driving one.
He was sentenced to three weeks' jail and fined $6,000, and
was disqualified from driving for four years on the first conviction,
and fined $800 and given a four-month driving ban on the second.
