SINGAPORE: An underage driver was sentenced to probation on Tuesday (Jul 11) after he bought a car sharing account and began ferrying passengers for cash.
The 17-year-old was only caught after he was stopped at a police roadblock, where he was found without a driving licence.
The teenager, now 19, was sentenced to 15 months’ probation and given a time curfew. He was also ordered to perform 50 hours of community service. His mother and stepfather were placed on a S$5,000 bond to ensure his good behaviour.
He cannot be named as he was under 18 at the time of the offences and his identity is protected under the Children and Young Persons Act.
He pleaded guilty to one charge of engaging in a conspiracy with a close friend, 17, to cheat by personation, and another charge of driving under the age of 18. A charge of driving a car without insurance was considered for sentencing.
In the second half of 2021, the teenager learnt that a user was selling accounts from car sharing service GetGo Technologies. He contacted the user and paid S$360 on Mar 20, 2022 to access one of the GetGo accounts.
He used his friend’s phone to create a new email address for the GetGo account. He then logged into the GetGo account and updated the account details with his phone number, bank account and new email address.
Between Apr 30, 2022 and May 5, 2022, he logged into the GetGo account and rented cars on 13 occasions.
His friend helped him to search for people who needed rides through the Telegram group chat “SG Hitch” to make money.
The 17-year-old would drive while his friend liaised with people who needed rides. He kept the payments made by passengers as he paid for the rental of the GetGo cars.
He was caught on May 5, 2022 while driving a GetGo car. At about 1am, his friend, who was seated in the passenger seat, contacted a passenger who had asked for a ride via SG Hitch.
The friend agreed to give the passenger and the passenger’s boyfriend a ride from Suntec City to Serangoon Avenue 2 for S$10, to be paid in cash.
At about 2am on May 5, 2022, and about five minutes after picking up the couple, the teen was stopped at a police roadblock at Republic Boulevard. The police officers found that he did not have a valid driving licence and detained him.
During his sentencing hearing, the prosecution said it would not object to probation.
District Judge Kessler Soh told the teenager’s parents: “I hope both of you can maintain a good relationship with him to help him.”
Turning to the accused, the judge added: “Make sure you learn from this and do not commit further offences.”
Cheating by personation carries a jail term of up to five years, a fine, or both. For driving under the age of 18, a first-time offender may be jailed for up to three months or fined up to S$1,000.