Edwin Goh pleads guilty to drink-driving, fined $6,500

Local actor Edwin Goh pleaded guilty to one count of drink driving at the State Courts today (Oct 13) and was fined $6,500. He is also disqualified from driving for three years.

Local reports said the 28-year-old turned up alone and was unrepresented. He kept his head down when his charge was read out to him.

In his mitigation, he said: "I have spent a lot of time reflecting on my mistake and I understand the gravity of my offence. I realise that this could ruin my future and has the potential to harm others as well.

"I hope by being compliant to the officers and this being my first-time offence, this could be taken into account and there could be some leniency shown."

The court heard that Edwin had dinner at a restaurant in the Golden Mile area on Sept 6 this year and later drank alcohol at a bar. He left in the early morning the next day and was stopped along Aljunied Road at around 2.37am on his way home.

He reeked of alcohol and a breathalyser test was conducted. The alcohol in his body was no less than 81 microgrammes (mcg) of alcohol in 100ml of breath, which exceeded the legal limit of 35 mcg. Edwin was later arrested for drink driving.

A spokesperson for Mediacorp told CNA that Edwin "deeply regrets" his action, apologises for this mistake and that it would not happen again.

"We would also like to emphasise that Mediacorp does not condone any behaviour that runs afoul of the law. We constantly remind our artistes that their fans and members of the public look to them as role models, and they are expected to behave as such. We will continue to counsel Edwin and will also be taking internal action regarding this."

For drink driving, Edwin could have been jailed up to a year and/or fined between $2,000 and $10,000.

He recently appeared to have broken up with his Ukrainian model girlfriend. He also archived all his Instagram posts and since Sept 1, has been posting only cool, stylised photos of himself.

As of writing, Edwin, who is currently acting in the upcoming Chinese drama Strike Gold, hasn't posted about this on his social media. 

kwokkarpeng@asiaone.com