Oliver Fricker
| Oliver Fricker | |
|---|---|
| Born | Age 33 Switzerland |
| Occupation | IT Consultant |
| Criminal charge |
Vandalism Trespassing |
| Criminal penalty | seven months in jail three strokes of the cane |
Oliver Fricker is the second high-profile foreigner (after Michael P. Fay in 1994) to be sentenced to caning for vandalism in Singapore. On 25 June 2010, he was sentenced to five months' jail and three strokes of the cane under the Vandalism Act and Protected Areas and Protected Places Act. On appeal, the jail sentence was increased to seven months.
He pleaded guilty to cutting through the fence of an SMRT Changi train depot with an accomplice and spray painting two metro train carriages 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 crime was committed at Singapore train operator SMRT's Changi train depot in the early hours of 17 May 2010:
Fricker and his friend, Dane Alexander Lloyd, had scouted out the location earlier in the day on 16 May and returned after midnight to commit the offence; each carried a bag, mainly of spray paints obtained by Lloyd before his arrival in Singapore on 15 May. Lloyd cut a hole in the security fence well away from the main road, using a wire cutter brought by Fricker. On a train carriage (a Kawasaki Heavy Industries C151 train, carriage number 1048) nearest to the fence, Fricker spray-painted the word "McKoy" on the left while Lloyd spray-painted the word "Banos" next to it; Lloyd took photographs of the vandalised carriages before both left through the hole in the fence. They flagged a taxi and went to Boat Quay for a drink before returning to Fricker's residence overlooking Marina Bay in the prime business district, where Lloyd showed Fricker the photographs before they went to sleep.
The next day, they left for Hong Kong for a holiday; Fricker returned three days later, while Lloyd decided to stay in Hong Kong. Fricker was arrested on 25 May, two days before he was due to leave for a new job in Switzerland. His laptop computer was found to contain 53 images, one video file of vandalised trains, and emails ordering paint; the wire cutter was also found in his possession. The evidence left Fricker with little choice but to plead guilty in the hope of a more lenient sentence. Lloyd is said to have planned the act before his arrival in Singapore.
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