Swiss vandal sentenced to five months, three strokes of the cane

Swiss national Oliver Fricker has been sentenced to five months’ jail and three strokes of the cane.

Earlier in the day, the 32-year-old software consultant pleaded guilty to two charges of entering a protected place and vandalising an SMRT train.

For entering a protected place, he could have been fined up to $1,000 and jailed up to two years.

He was facing a fine of up to $2,000 or a jail term of up to three years and at least three strokes of the cane for the vandalism charge.

Fricker’s lawyer Derek Kang told Yahoo! Singapore that he would be filing an appeal on his client’s behalf.

“We are filing an appeal because we feel the sentence is a bit on the high side.”

The 33-year-old lawyer from law firm Rodyk & Davidson LLP said the appeal hearing would take at the very earliest “a few weeks.” When asked if the appeal would succeed, he said he has to be “hopeful” it will.

Acknowledging the huge media interest in the case, Kang also said he was initially taken aback.

“Before the first time, I probably wasn’t aware of how much attention this case had attracted. But I was forewarned that a lot of foreign media would be covering it.”

Kang also added he was in touch with the Swiss embassy, who are providing consular support for his client.

The Straits Times earlier detailed how Fricker and his British accomplice, Dane Alexander Lloyd, carried out their vandalism act on May 15.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Sharon Lim said the pair came to know each other in Australia about three years ago, and had been keeping in touch occasionally through e-mail. Earlier this year, the 29-year-old Briton told Fricker he would be coming here for a visit for some “non-legal things”.

On the day of the act, the pair collected delivery of a carton of paint at City Hall MRT. By then, Fricker had already used Google to recce where the Changi SMRT depot was and where all the MRT trains were parked.

Later that evening, both men, each carrying a small bag with a few cans of spray entred the depot after cutting a hole in the fence.

After each had spray-painted the words “McKoy Banos” on the MRT carriages, they took some photographs of their work before leaving the same way they came.

Fricker was arrested on May 25, while Lloyd is still at large.

Many think that the Swiss vandal does not actually deserve the punishment, as his works on the MRT train were rather artistic and well drawn. However, in my opinion, I think that it is rather right that that he has to be punished this way. Think of it this way. Despite him not doing much harm to the society, he still managed to trespass the depot and managed to vandalise the train. If he was able to access the depot, he could have been able to do anything to the MRT trains there. If the authorities are not strict regarding this, it would be akin to being lax in security.