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BUKIT MERTAJAM: A former model has been sentenced to five years in prison and fined RM18,000 by a magistrate’s court here for reckless driving that resulted in the death of a motorist.
Ng Pei Ven, 22, had driven against the flow of traffic along the North-South Highway, causing an accident that killed the motorist three years ago.
Magistrate Pracha Nanthini Baladebha said Ng will have to serve an additional 24 months in jail if she does not pay the fine.
Her probationary licence has been revoked and she is not allowed a new driving permit for the next five years.
Defence counsel Lim Boon Beng requested for a stay of execution pending appeal but deputy public prosecutor Mohd Amril Johari said an appeal should not qualify one for a stay of execution.
Sri Pracha allowed the stay of the imprisonment pending the appeal.
Ng was charged with driving recklessly, which led to the death of another motorist Mohamad Fandi Rosli, then 26, at Km143 of the North South Expressway on Mar 14, 2017.
She was 19-years-old at that time.
Ng was seen sobbing in the dock just as the sentenced was read out.
In another development, police arrested three suspects over an incident at Jalan Ara Kuda where a woman’s car was set ablaze after an accident.
Villagers there had assumed that she was driving under the influence of alcohol.
A post on social media showed that the car driven by the woman had collided with two motorcycles and there were comments accusing her of being drunk.
The other two suspects - a pair of twins - were arrested for peddling fake information online.
Police said the woman was trying to avoid an animal but her car had skidded to the opposite lane, crashing into the twins.
