Businessman gets four years jail for causing death of policeman in drink-driving case

KAJANG - A businessman was sentenced to four years in jail and fined RM10,000 by the Sessions Court here today after he pleaded guilty to drink-driving which caused the death of a policeman who was manning a roadblock.

Sessions court judge Sayani Mohd Nor imposed the jail sentence on K. Kalaichelvan and fined him RM10,000 in default five months’ jail for driving under the influence of alcohol and causing the death of Corporal Safwan Mohamad Ismail, 31, at the Movement Control Order (MCO) roadblock on the Kajang-Seremban Highway at 2.10am on May 3, 2020.

Kalaichelvan was also given six months’ jail for failing to comply with any reasonable signal of a police officer requiring a person or vehicle to stop before reaching any barrier.

The 45-year-old father of two was also given a month's jail for the third charge of driving without a licence.

For the fourth charge of defying the MCO under Section 3(1) of the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases (Measures within the Infected Local Areas) Regulations 2020, Kalaichelvan was sentenced to a month’s jail.

Kalaichelvan had pleaded not guilty to the charges when he was charged on May 13, 2020, but changed his plea today. All the offences were committed at the same place and time.

Judge Sayani ordered Kalaichelvan to serve the sentences concurrently, which means he would have to serve only four years in jail.

She also disqualified Kalaichelvan from holding or applying for a driving licence for five years.

In mitigation, lawyer K. Veeranesh Babu, who represented Kalaichelvan, said his client has repented and asked for a minimum jail sentence and for the sentences to run concurrently.

Deputy public prosecutor Mohammad Al-Saifi Hashim, who is also Selangor state prosecution director, asked the court to impose a deterrent jail sentence on Kalaichelvan.

He said Safwan was a frontliner who was on duty during the Covid-19 pandemic and that the incident had happened during MCO time.

Kalaichelvan was also represented by lawyer Freda Josephine Gonzales.

Also appearing for the prosecution were deputy public prosecutors Muhammad Fauzan Mohd Nor and Siti Nur Liyana Mohd Sulaiman. - BERNAMA