Singapore — British national Benjamin Glynn was on Wednesday evening (Aug 18) convicted of all charges against him and sentenced to six weeks’ jail.
He was found guilty of four charges of failing to wear a mask, public nuisance and using threatening words towards a public servant.
A video circulating also showed Glynn refusing to wear a mask while on the MRT, and also outside the State Courts in Jul.
Because Glynn has been on remand since Jul 19, and is preparing to get deported after he was released from prison on Wednesday (Aug 18), netizens who comment on the post wrote: “6 weeks only? Will that teach him anything?”
Without taking into consideration the time Glynn was in remand, others also griped that he only served one day in prison.
As his period of remand amounted to more than two-thirds of his sentence, he was allowed to be released from prison on remission almost immediately after he was sentenced.
Convicts can be released on remission for good behaviour after serving two-thirds of their jail term.
But foreigners who are convicted usually have their work passes revoked, and they are deported after serving their sentence. Foreigners also cannot remain in Singapore without a valid pass.
British national Benjamin Glynn who was seen without a mask on a train was ordered by a judge on Aug 5 to be remanded at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) after ranting in court.
Just like Badge lady, or Phoon Chiu Yoke who during her previous appearance in court on May 24, walked in without a mask on, the 40-year-old man who was not wearing a mask on an MRT train also turned up at court on Jul 2 without wearing a mask.
During a previous court hearing, he insisted that he was a sovereign citizen and called court proceedings “preposterous” and “disgusting”.
Though it was supposed to be Glynn’s first day of trial, he noted that he would not be pleading guilty or not guilty as it was “nonsense”.
“I will never plead guilty or not guilty. I can’t believe this has been going on since the 8th of May,” Glynn said.
“It’s so straightforward it’s so clear that this sham of a case should be dropped.” /TISG