Terence Cao to plead guilty in court for breaking Covid-19 rules

Veteran local actor Terence Cao will plead guilty to breaking Covid-19 social distancing rules on Oct 2 last year, his lawyer said in court on Tuesday (Apr 27).

According to court documents, the 53-year-old allowed 12 guests into his home, a condominium unit at Daisy Road, to celebrate actor Jeffrey Xu's birthday. Other local celebrities present included Shane Pow, Jeremy Chan, Dawn Yeoh, Julie Tan, and Sonia Chew.

11 of the guests have been fined $300 in lieu of being prosecuted, due to their lower "level of culpability". The last guest, Lance Lim Chee Keong, has also been charged in court and his lawyer said he intends to plead guilty.

ALSO READ: Terence Cao, Jeffrey Xu, Shane Pow apologise for breaking Covid-19 rules at birthday celebration

Terence and Lim each face a charge under the Covid-19 (Temporary Measures) Act for breaching phase 2 regulations which restricted social gatherings to a maximum of five people. First-time offenders can be jailed for up to six months and fined up to $10,000.

Terence will return to court on May 25.

On April 22, Shane, 30, was charged in court for drink driving. His talent management agency The Celebrity Agency, which is owned by Mediacorp, released a statement on Monday saying it was not aware of Shane's drink driving charge prior to media reports and that they will "part ways" with the actor.

ALSO READ: 'We were not aware of drink driving charge': Mediacorp cuts ties with Shane Pow

kwokkarpeng@asiaone.com