SINGAPORE, Oct 22 — An 82-year-old Singaporean man has been jailed for two weeks and fined S$2,000 (RM6,500) after crashing his girlfriend’s car while driving without a valid licence or insurance, CNA reported today.

Loh Chun Meng’s driving licence had expired nearly three decades ago, in 1995, but he decided to take his girlfriend’s car to see a doctor after waking up with knee pain last October.

According to court documents cited by the Singapore-based media organisation, Loh’s girlfriend, 57, was asleep and unaware that he had taken her car keys. After visiting his doctor’s clinic in Towner Road, Loh drove to Bishan to buy breakfast but accidentally stepped on the accelerator instead of the brake while navigating a car park.

The car mounted a kerb and crashed into a metal cabinet containing gas cylinders behind a shop. Loh then reversed, mounted another kerb, and struck a lamp post. The car’s rear windshield was crumpled, and its body sustained multiple dents and cracks.

A bystander called the police at about 9.40am, saying an “old man driving a car had (banged) the gas cylinder behind his shop.”

Loh pleaded guilty to three charges — driving without a valid licence, driving without insurance, and driving without due care and attention — with a fourth charge taken into consideration.

The prosecution sought two to four weeks’ jail and a S$2,000 fine, noting that Loh “had no reasonable explanation” for driving without a licence. The prosecutor said he could have woken his girlfriend and asked her to drive instead.