Man jailed 12 weeks after his third drink driving offence
He was once the director of his own investment firm and hailed as a philanthropist who donated thousands of dollars to charity with his then-wife.
But Levin Lee Keng Weng, 53, is now a convicted serial drink driver who was yesterday jailed for 12 weeks, fined $15,000 and disqualified from driving for life after crashing his car into a construction barricade in front of Balmoral Plaza.
It was his third drink driving offence.
The divorcee pleaded guilty to one charge each of drink driving and driving without due care and attention.
On the evening of Nov 28 last year, he shared a bottle of red wine with another person at the Chinese Swimming Club.
He then drove to Jalan Besar before driving home via Bukit Timah Road.
At about 11.10pm, he lost control of his vehicle and skidded, resulting in the accident. A member of the public called the police.
The Traffic Police arrived at about 12.30am, while Lee was being attended to by a paramedic for a minor cut on his lip.
The officer noticed he had bloodshot eyes, smelled strongly of alcohol and had a flushed face.
Lee initially denied he had been drinking, but later admitted to doing so after the officer conducted a breath test on him.
His blood sample was taken at Tan Tock Seng Hospital about four hours later.
The report showed his blood alcohol level was just over the prescribed limit.
Yesterday, Deputy Public Prosecutor Stephanie Koh said the accident cracked the windscreen of the car and badly damaged its front portion.
No property was damaged and no one else was hurt.
She said Lee was a serious repeat offender who had been previously convicted of drink driving in 2001 and 2010.
Lee's lawyer Vinit Chhabra said his client had been jobless for some time, and was with a prospective employer on the night of the accident.
He said Lee got divorced this year and suffers from major depression.
But District Judge Lorraine Ho said there were no special reasons in this case, and an enhanced punishment was mandated by law as this was his third drink driving offence.
For that, Lee could have been jailed for up to two years and fined up to $20,000.
Unless there are special reasons, those caught drink driving more than twice must be disqualified from driving for life.
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now
