SINGAPORE, Sept 22 — Although she knew her bicycle’s brakes were broken, Li Lanying who worked as a hospital housekeeper continued cycling to and from work for nearly three months without repairing them.

Then, on the way home from work one night, she could not use her brakes to avoid hitting a pedestrian, who was then a 63-year-old retiree.

The crash left the victim with a traumatic brain injury and she died in hospital 12 days later.

On Friday (September 20), Li, who is 52 and from China, was sentenced to four weeks’ jail after pleading guilty to causing death by negligent act.

Her sentence was backdated to August 27, the date when she was arrested and placed in remand.

What happened

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Tan Jing Min told the court at about 9pm on March 8 last year, Li was cycling home from Tan Tock Seng Hospital after work.

The road has a slight downhill from Mandalay Road before going uphill and it has a speed limit of 50km/h.

At the same time, retiree Lee Lai Kuen and her husband were on their daily night walk along Martaban Road towards a nearby car park.

Li was riding at a fast speed and after she turned right onto Martaban Road towards Balestier Road, she came close to Lee who was crossing the road.

Li tried to use the bicycle’s brakes but she could not slow down since they were defective.

Court documents did not state the exact speed Li was travelling.

"The accused and the victim tried to redirect their cycling and walking paths to avoid each other, but the accused’s right handlebar collided onto the victim’s right arm,” DPP Tan said.

The impact caused Lee to fall backwards and her head hit the ground. Li fell off her bicycle.

DPP Tan said that at the time of the crash, traffic flow was "clear”, the road surface was dry, the weather was fine and visibility was clear.

As a result of the collision, Lee sustained a traumatic brain injury and was taken to Tan Tock Seng Hospital by an ambulance.

She died on March 20 last year at 5.36am due to a head injury.

"The accused knew that her brakes were faulty for two to three months prior to the accident,” DPP Tan said.

"However, she did not repair it as there were usually no pedestrians on the road when she used the bicycle to commute to and from work.”

The prosecution sought a sentence of four to eight weeks’ jail, noting that Li had a "high level of negligence” since she was aware of the defect but chose not to repair it.

"Furthermore, she was travelling at a fast speed downslope at the time of the accident,” DPP Tan added.

Lim Lei Theng from law firm Allen & Gledhill pleaded for leniency on Li’s behalf and told the court that Li was trying to avoid Lee on that fateful night.

"They were both trying to avoid each other... it was an accident,” the lawyer said.

District Judge Chee Min Ping noted that both the defence and prosecution did not dispute that Li was going at a fast speed during the incident, and that this was an "aggravating factor”.

The judge added that she took into account Li’s remorse and early plea of guilt during sentencing.

Anyone found guilty of causing death by doing a negligent act can be jailed for up to two years or fined, or both. — TODAY