Oliver Fricker

In June 2010, Swiss national Oliver Fricker was sentenced to five months in prison and three strokes of the cane under the Singapore Vandalism Act and Protected Areas and Protected Places Act.

Fricker pleaded guilty to cutting through the fence of an SMRT Changi train depot with an accomplice and spray painting two MRT train cars with the words "McKoy Banos", a widely documented signature of graffiti artists who have vandalised trains around the world. Fricker was arrested on 25 May, two days before he was to leave for a new job in Switzerland. An arrest warrant was also issued for his British accomplice, Dane Alexander Lloyd.

The case

The crime was committed at Singapore train operator SMRT's Changi train depot in the early hours of 17 May 2010: Before his court trial, he had been freed on bail of SGD 100,000. this may have alerted the authorities. SMRT said the graffiti caused about SGD 11,000-worth of damage to two train carriages.

Prosecutors did not specify how Fricker was identified, saying only that the evidence came from police investigations.

Sentence

On 25 June 2010, Fricker pleaded guilty to two charges of vandalism and trespassing in a protected place. A third charge, that he had committed an act of vandalism by cutting the fence of the depot, was taken into consideration.

Fricker asked only that he not be given a "punitive custodial sentence", and his lawyer then argued in mitigation: that Fricker had shown genuine remorse and co-operated fully with police investigations; he was "cajoled" by Lloyd into committing the crimes and made a one-off mistake "while inebriated" after drinking several beers; he pursued his passion as purely graphic art; the graffiti had not incited hatred, and left no lasting damage; and he was a model expatriate worker, contributing to Singapore since his arrival in the city in 2008.

Fricker was sentenced to five months in prison (three for vandalism and two for trespassing) and three strokes of the cane (for vandalism).

Judge See Kee Oon said of Fricker's actions "he was fully conscious of the criminal nature of the act and must be prepared to face the consequences", and agreed with the Public Prosecutor that the defendant had committed a very serious offence that had "alarmed the general public" and "shaken their confidence in the security of protected places".

Under the 1966 Vandalism Act, vandals could be sentenced to three years imprisonment, fined a maximum of SGD 2,000 and given a minimum of three strokes of the cane. For entering a protected place under the Protected Areas and Protected Places Act, Fricker could have been sentenced to a maximum of two years imprisonment and fined up to SGD 1,000.

Fricker was immediately taken into custody by court police to begin his sentence, but his lawyer said he was appealing for a reduced sentence.

Public outcry The breach at Changi train depot was Singapore's biggest security lapse since a suspected terrorist leader, Mas Selamat bin Kastari, escaped from detention in February 2008. Transport systems, other high-traffic public areas, and foreign embassies are all regarded as potential terrorist targets in Southeast Asia.

The Changi depot case caused an outcry from the public in the media and on the internet, most of it not towards the vandals but directed at the authorities for the lax security of public transportation and protected installations in general. Some of the major concerns were:

Security aftermath Immediately after the incident, SMRT increased the number of security personnel and patrols, installed more cameras, added razor wires to perimeter fences, and engaged a security consultant to conduct a comprehensive audit of its systems. SBS Transit followed suit with similar measures and announced plans to replace wired fencing with mesh fencing around Sengkang Depot. Other measures would include removal of shrubs and hedges along perimeter fencing and placement of concertina wires.

On 27 June 2010, the LTA said it was assessing whether to impose penalties on SMRT for the security breach.

Appeal Fricker appealed against the two-month jail sentence for trespassing. He argued that it should have been ordered to run concurrently with the three-month sentence for vandalism, with the effect that he should only serve three months' imprisonment altogether. The prosecution cross-appealed, arguing that the prison sentence for trespass was manifestly inadequate. The case was heard on 18 August 2010. Judge of Appeal V. K. Rajah increased Fricker's sentence for trespassing from two months to four and declined to order that it should run concurrently with the vandalism sentence, making his total sentence of imprisonment seven months. The judge stated that, had the prosecution appealed the vandalism sentence, he probably would have increased that too. He said Fricker should "count himself fortunate that he has not received his just deserts in full". Fricker's act, he noted, must be "unequivocally deplored", while like-minded offenders must be deterred from copycat offending.

At the appeal, the prosecution was given permission to adduce additional evidence to the effect that in 2001 Fricker had been convicted in Switzerland of multiple incidents of damaging public property. However, the Court said that it did not take this into consideration as the prosecution had provided insufficient information about the earlier conviction. Fricker's caning, postponed pending the appeal, would now be carried out.

Release Fricker was released from Changi Prison on 15 November 2010 after spending less than five months there, having received one-third remission for good behaviour. He immediately flew back to Zurich, where he was arrested by police for suspected graffiti offences in Switzerland.