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SINGAPORE : 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. - CNA /ls
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