Convicted vandal Oliver Fricker was reported to be appealing against his sentence. "5 months jail and 3 canes are not enough!" he sounded disgusted.
Right.
And no, it's not him who was dismayed. It's us. The innocent & clueless passengers. Only 5 months free stay in jail & 3 canes for the kind of shocking trauma that SMRT passengers have been exposed? (Yes, yes...even if most of us were plainly ignorant or clueless whether the graffiti was a possibly a kind of advertisement. Heh.)
Seriously, though, I agree with what Deputy Public Prosecutor Sharon Lim stated, "His behaviour is anti-social and, more importantly in this case, has had the added effect of causing widespread concern about the security of our public transport system".
Swiss national Oliver Fricker has been sentenced to five months jail and three strokes of the cane.
The 32-year-old IT consultant pleaded guilty to trespassing into the SMRT Changi Depot and spray-painting two train carriages.
A third vandalism charge for cutting the depot's fence was taken into consideration.
Fricker committed the offences between May 16 and 17 with an alleged accomplice, identified as Dane Alexander Lloyd, a Briton who has since left Singapore.
The court was told Lloyd allegedly masterminded the plan, and had corresponded with a spray paint supplier before his arrival in Singapore on May 15.
The next day, the pair looked for a dimly-lit area of fence surrounding the depot and cut a hole in it. They then painted the two carriages nearest to the fence.
Fricker had allegedly been "extremely nervous" when entering the depot, and needed to be coaxed by Lloyd.
They fled in a taxi and went to Boat Quay for drinks, before ending up at Fricker's apartment at Sail@Marina Bay.
Lloyd showed Fricker the photographs he'd taken, before they went to sleep.
On May 18, the pair left for Hong Kong for a holiday.
The court also heard that Fricker was an experienced graffiti artiste. He had painted graffiti - legally - at Singapore's Youth Park before.
The case saw hours of mitigation and repeated delays in court.
Fricker's lawyer Derek Kang said his client had made a one-off mistake, while under the influence of alcohol.
He added the graffiti had not incited hatred, and left no lasting damage.
But the prosecution said Fricker's sentence should act as a general deterrent for the public.
Fricker's lawyer said his client had shown genuine remorse by cooperating fully with police.
"My client has commenced serving his sentence. We are filing an appeal because we feel that it is on the high side. We hope that the papers can be expedited, and we will see how things go at the appeal," said Lawyer Kang.
In his judgement, District Judge See Kee Oon had called the act "calculated criminal conduct", and said Fricker must now face the consequences.
From Channel NewsAsia, "Fricker gets 5 mths' jail, caning over vandalism & trespassing charges".
CONVICTED vandal Oliver Fricker was sentenced to five months' jail and three strokes of the cane on Friday evening for entering a protected place and spraying paint on two carriages of an SMRT train.
The 32-year-old IT consultant is appealing against his sentence, according to his lawyer, Mr Derek Kang.
Fricker, who went to jail on Friday, had admitted to a vandalism charge and an offence under the Protected Areas and Protected Places Act. He did them with his friend, Briton Dane Alexander Lloyd, 29, at the SMRT Changi depot between May 16 and 17.
A third charge of cutting the perimeter fence of the depot was considered during his sentencing.
The graffiti on the train with the large words McKoy Banos was seen by many commuters and members of the public before it was reported by a SMRT staff two days later.
Seeking an appropriate jail term on each of the two charges, Deputy Public Prosecutor Sharon Lim argued that such serious breach of the law could not be taken lightly or viewed as a mere prank. The duo, she said, were experienced graffiti writers who had targeted the SMRT train which is the backbone of Singapore's public transport system.
Fricker could have been jailed for up to three years for the vandalism charge; and up to two years for entering a protected place.
From Straits Times, "Jailed 5 months and caning".
