Prosecution seeks up to 13.5 years' jail for driver in fatal Tampines collision

The prosecution is seeking a jail term between 12 years and nine months and 13.5 years for Muhammad Syafie Ismail, a 45 year old Singaporean who caused a fatal multi vehicle collision in Tampines on April 22, 2024. Both the prosecution and the defence are seeking a lifetime driving ban for Ismail. He pleaded guilty to three charges of dangerous driving causing death, causing grievous hurt, and causing hurt. Sentencing is scheduled for October 5.

The collision occurred after Ismail accelerated to speeds between 129kmh and 134kmh, far exceeding the 50kmh speed limit. He ran a red light that had been red for at least 26 seconds and rammed into three vehicles, causing a chain collision involving a total of six vehicles, including a van and a school bus. The crash killed a 57 year old woman and a 17 year old student. Eight other people were injured, including two 11 year old children.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Niranjan Ranjakunalan based the requested sentence on the loss of two lives, the number of injured parties, and the property damage. He argued that the public interest demands a smaller guilty plea discount of 10 to 15 per cent rather than the standard 30 per cent. The prosecution highlighted the severe emotional trauma of the victims, noting that the mother of the deceased student developed major depressive disorder and post traumatic stress disorder.

Defence lawyer Kalaithasan Karuppaya sought a sentence between seven and a half and eight years' jail. He argued that the prosecution's request was crushing and noted that Ismail is remorseful. Prior to the crash, Ismail had worked as an operations manager and had a previous traffic violation for careless driving in April 2022.