Man frames neighbour by attaching identical licence plate while speeding, gets 2 months' jail

In order to frame his neighbour, a man made a licence plate identical to hers and attached it to a rented BMW which he used to speed. 

The accused, Hong Yi Xiang, 27, was sentenced to two months jail on Tuesday afternoon after pleading guilty to two counts of breaching traffic regulations, reports Shin Min Daily News. 

His driving licence was also suspended for 12 months.

The victim, Ms Chen Peiqing, 36, was Hong’s neighbour and drove a car with the licence plate SJM215K. 

The court heard that Hong had sped at speeds of 116 kmh along  Thomson Road towards Lornie Road on March 8, 2017, at 1am.

The speed far exceeded the 70 kmh limit imposed by traffic regulations. 

Hong drove a white BMW with the licence plate SGU1608Y. 

However, while he was speeding, he changed his licence plate to a plate featuring the number SJM215K, which was identical to Ms Chen’s car. 

Hong was caught speeding on a traffic camera footage, and Ms Chen subsequently received a summons for speeding. 

As Ms Chen was at home at the time of the incident, she hence filed an appeal. 

She later found out that a speeding car caught on traffic camera footage sported the same licence number as her vehicle.

Ms Chen also recognised the white BMW which Hong drove. 

She and Hong had been involved in a collision in 2017, but the matter was resolved privately without informing the traffic police. 

The police tracked down Hong after a series of investigations at a car rental company, and Hong admitted that he had framed his neighbour. 

Investigations revealed that Hong had once refused to give Ms Chen a lift and the relationship between the two has since worsened. 

Ms Chen and Hong had another argument, which led to him tailgating her car and causing an accident.

Bearing grudges, Hong sought revenge on Ms Chen.

Hong later visited a store in Yishun and spent $30 to create a license plate bearing the same number as Ms Chen’s vehicle. 

He rented a white BMW and installed the new plate, before proceeding to speed on the roads. 

Hong deliberately sped up while he was in front of traffic cameras so he could frame Ms Chen.

Only after he was sure that the cameras had recorded the footage did he make a U-turn and went home. 

He then swapped his licence plate back for his own.