Son of Bentley driver in Red Swastika School incident fined, banned from driving
He admitted altering the front and rear licence plates, and was also unaware of father's usage of car
SINGAPORE - A man who altered the licence plate of a Bentley car - which his father had drove in and threatened to run down a Red Swastika School security guard with - was fined $2,600 on Thursday (23 February).
Glynn Neo Jia, 29, was also banned from driving for 12 months after pleading guilty to two charges.
According to The Straits Times, the charges were for altering the front and rear licence plates of the Bentley and for allowing his father, Neo Hong Chye, to use the vehicle without insurance coverage. The vehicle had only motor trade insurance coverage, which did not cover Neo's father.
The elder Neo was sentenced to eight weeks' jail, fined $600 and banned from driving for 12 months in October last year, for causing hurt through a rash act and driving without insurance.
Incident recap
The incident occurred on 11 January last year outside Red Swastika School. Video footage showed Neo Hong Chye arriving in a Bentley car outside the school along Bedok North Avenue 3.
Because he had bypassed a queue of cars, he was stopped from entering the premises by the security guard.
However, he inched the car forward a few times, pushing the security guard back despite being stopped from entering the primary school.
He was arrested that same day, and police said the guard suffered minor injuries following the incident.
Videos of the incident went viral on social media, with Education Minister Chan Chun Sing criticising the "unacceptable behaviour" of the Bentley driver.
Changed number plate for photoshoot
Investigations revealed that the registration number on the Bentley was assigned to a BMW car that was deregistered in May 2021.
An application was made to keep the registration number and was approved, but no application was made for the vehicle number to be transferred to and used on the Bentley, which was owned by car trading firm Neo Times.
Glynn Neo had purchased the Bentley in December 2021 and changed the number plate of the vehicle for a photo shoot.
According to his defence lawyer, he was unaware that his father had taken the keys to the car. If he had known, he would not have granted permission to his father to drive the car.
Glynn Neo could have been fined up to $5,000 and/or jailed up to 12 months for affixing the number plate of another car on the Bentley.
He could also have been jailed for up to three months, fined up to $1,000, and/or disqualified from driving for 12 months for allowing the vehicle to be used without insurance coverage.
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