JOHOR BARU, Nov 26 — A 34-year-old mechanic claimed trial in the Magistrate's Court here today to charges of driving while intoxicated and causing the death of a married couple on November 16.

S. Nageshvaran pleaded not guilty after both charges were read out before Magistrate Nor Farhana Mohd Ishak.

For the first charge, he was charged with driving a Perodua Alza with a. excessive blood alcohol content of 170mg/100ml and causing the death of a motorcycle passenger, Linda Mohd A. Aziz, 35.

The accused was also charged with driving the same vehicle with the same alcohol content in his body and causing the death of the motorcyclist, Mohamad Redzwan Mohd Rusdi, 37.

Nageshvaran was accused of committing both offences at the traffic light intersection of Jalan Besar-Jalan Mesjid in the Pasir Gudang town centre at 4.15am on November 16.

Both charges were made under Section 44(1)(b) of the Road Transport Act 1987 and is punishable by a maximum prison sentence of 15 years imprisonment and a fine of up to RM100,000.

The case was prosecuted by prosecuting officer Inspector S. Vikineswary, while the accused was represented by K. Sarawanakumar.

Earlier, the prosecuting officer requested that the court to impose bail of RM15,000 with one surety and for Nageshvaran to report to the nearest police station twice a month.

In addition, he requested for the suspension of the accused’s driving licence and for him to surrender his passport to the court.

However, Sarawanakumar requested for the court to reduce the bail amount on the grounds that his client had to support his elderly and sick parents as well as four siblings.

“The accused supports all his family members with his RM2,000 a month salary as a mechanic and this is his first offence," said the Sarawanakumar.

The court then set bail at RM12,000 with one surety and granted the prosecution’s other requests.

The case will be rementioned on January 14 for the submission of documents.

On November 16, Mohamad Redzwan and his wife Linda were reportedly killed after the motorcycle they were riding was hit by a car driven by a man under the influence of alcohol at the traffic light intersection at Jalan Besar-Jalan Mesjid in Pasir Gudang.

The crash orphaned the couple's five children, aged three to 17, who are now under the care of their grandparents.