Gabriel Ravi Janageran was found guilty of 14 counts of parking offences – such as parking in a place other than a parking lot, one count of parking in a season parking place, one count of obstructive parking and one count of parking with expired coupons.
Earlier this month, the courts fined him $7,000, after Mr Gabriel pleaded guilty to the charges.
The offences, which come under the Parking Places Act, were committed between 2011 and 2014.
In court, the judge said that in normal cases, the penalty would be a fine of between $600 to $800 for each of the offences. If the accused was unable to pay the fines, he would have to serve jail time which would be between 2 to 4 days.
For Mr Gabriel’s offences, the judge issued a penalty of $500 for each count, totalling $7,000.
Mr Gabriel, who conducted his own mitigation plea, is unable to pay the fine, and is appealing it.
He is currently out on bail.
Mr Gabriel is a father of four and works two jobs to make ends meet. He is the sole breadwinner in the family.
He had asked the judge to be lenient and to impose only a small fine. But this was declined by the judge who said that Mr Gabriel’s financial situation is not unique and therefore does not warrant special considerations.
Mr Gabriel too had been given many extensions during his court case to allow him time to raise money to pay the fines.
It was the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) and the Housing and Development Board (HDB) which had hauled Mr Gabriel to court.
According to lawyers whom the Chinese newspapers spoke to, it is rare for anyone to be charged in court for such traffic offences.
A first-time offender would normally be allowed to pay a composite fine and the case closed.
Alternatively, offenders could also be issued warning letters.
However, lawyers say, in the case of repeat offenders, the authorities would take more stringent measures.
