Three teens accused of vandalism plead guilty
PUBLISHED ONJanuary 31, 2015 2:01 AMByElena Chong
ONE of three youths who admitted vandalising the rooftop of a Toa Payoh HDB block with spray paint was on probation when they did it, a court heard yesterday.
Boaz Koh Wen Jie, Reagan Tan Chang Zhi and Chay Nam Shen, all 18, each admitted to five charges of theft, vandalism and criminal trespass.
Koh had been placed on 18 months' probation in October 2013, also for theft and trespass.
A fourth member of their group - David William Graaskov, 18 - was the first to plead guilty. He was given 15 months' probation on Monday for theft and trespass but took no part in the graffiti.
The case against an alleged fifth member, Goh Rong Liang, 18, will be mentioned on Feb 9.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Tang Shangjun said the group, who adopted the name Mikecool, stole four cans of spray paint worth a total of $12 from a lorry before committing the vandalism in the early hours of May 7 last year.
They decided to target the rooftop of Block 85A Lorong 4, where Koh, Tan, Chay and Goh had been twice before. They knew there was a gap they could climb through and they managed to gain access.
They waited about 10 minutes for the lights in an opposite unit to go off, then started spraying.
Koh, the court heard, even sprayed over his graffiti work - an expletive directed against the People's Action Party - as he felt it was not "dark enough". He also sprayed "wake up", with the others contributing to the vandalism.
It cost $129 to repaint the walls.
Investigations also showed that the five trespassed on to the rooftop of luxury condominium Marina Bay Suites in March and four of them climbed over the metal fencing to enter a worksite in Jalan Rajah in 2013.
DPP Tang said this case has attracted significant public and media attention, adding: "It was brazen, it was specifically targeted and laden with a message, and it was carried out atop a tall HDB block... a spot guaranteed to attract maximum attention."
He said the offences caused public disquiet and escalated in their offensive nature, with abusive language used in the graffiti. Of Koh, he said that probation had not been "a sufficient deterrence to change his pro-criminal mindset".
District Judge Lim Keng Yeow called for progress and reformative training reports on Koh, whose case will be mentioned on Feb 18. Tan and Chay will return to court on March 2, pending probation reports.
The maximum penalty for vandalism is a $2,000 fine or three years' jail plus three to eight strokes of the cane. For criminal trespass, it is three months' jail and a $1,500 fine, and for theft, three years and a fine.
elena@sph.com.sg
This article was first published on Jan 29, 2015.
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