Teen accused of rhino enclosure trespass gets new charges after arrest following court no-show

SINGAPORE: A teenager who was issued an arrest warrant after failing to wake up for his court hearing has been remanded and given fresh charges.

Ralph Wee Yi Kai, 19, was on Friday (Nov 12) given four new charges of committing mischief by cutting a GPS ankle tag and of possessing electronic cigarette pods and an e-vaporiser.

He is accused of cutting a S$100 GPS ankle tag at about 12.10am at an address on Leedon Road on Oct 26, and possessing an e-cigarette pod at the same address two days later.

Wee is also accused of possessing an e-vaporiser and six e-cigarette pods at a ward in the Institute of Mental Health on Sep 14.

He is also likely to face four charges of failing to report for his urine test, but the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) has been unable to serve the charges on him, a prosecutor told the court. He could not explain the reason for this, but said CNB would be ready to serve the charges next week.

Wee appeared in court early Friday morning via video-link from his place of remand. He was remanded from Nov 6, a day after an arrest warrant was issued following his failure to wake up for court.

His counsel told the court then that Wee "has had difficulty waking up" and that his parents could not wake him on the morning of his court mention.

Wee was originally charged in July with four charges of mischief, criminal trespass and vandalism.

These were for trespassing into the white rhino enclosure at the zoo on Dec 17, 2020, hitting the side mirrors of a Mercedes-Benz and BMW car in October 2020 and hitting the information panel of a bus stop.

He was later given more charges for causing unnecessary pain and suffering to a live frog at a Sentosa Cove home on Christmas Eve last year by killing it with a ball on a foosball table. Wee was also charged with consuming a cannabinol derivative around Aug 6, 2021.

He intends to plead guilty, and was given a date to do so on Nov 22.