A YOUNG man who crashed his car into a drain knew he was in trouble because he had driven after having downed several glasses of wine.

So Samuel Gay Wee Keong, 26, tried to buy himself out of trouble - by bribing the police officers who came upon the scene.

Yesterday, he was jailed for three months for his attempt to grease the palms of the two police officers on May 15.

For drink driving and driving recklessly, he was fined $3,700, and also banned from driving all vehicles for 18 months.

Yesterday, the court heard that after drinking at least four glasses of wine at a restaurant in Sembawang Park, Gay got behind the wheel.

He crashed the car even before he was out of the carpark.

Following a phone call by a passer-by, two Traffic Police officers - Sergeant Nor Faizal Yahya and Corporal Hairelrizal Hashim - turned up.

They found him unhurt, but reeking of alcohol.

When Gay failed a breathalyser test, he took out a stack of $50 notes.

He then held out a $100 note and asked the officers: "Can you settle this matter like the Malaysian police?"

Despite repeated warnings to put his money away, Gay kept up his offer of the bribe, and even tried to shove the bill into Sgt Faizal's hand, asking him to
'settle this' with his 'friend'.

It was then that Sgt Faizal placed him under arrest and seized the $100 note.

Gay, who pleaded to the court for leniency, could have been jailed for up to five years and fined $100,000.