2010 Singapore train depot trespass and vandalism case

[3] The crime was committed at Singapore train operator SMRT's Changi train depot[4] in the early hours of 17 May 2010:[5][6][7][8] 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.

Since October 2008, Fricker, aged 32, had been working in Singapore as an IT consultant for Zurich-based Comit AG, specialising in financial industry software.

Police had issued an arrest warrant for Lloyd earlier in June and British media reported that Interpol affiliated countries had been asked to provide information about him.

[3] SMRT Corporation reported the incident to police only on 19 May, two days after the breach, because staff thought the brightly coloured graffiti was an advertisement.

[12] 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".

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.

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.

[18] 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.

[19] 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.