Singapore — Has Badge lady met her match?
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 39-year-old man who was not wearing a mask on an MRT train also turned up at court on Friday (Jul 2) without wearing a mask.
Before District Judge A Sangeetha, Phoon stood in the dock and tried to take off the mask but was cautioned by the judge.
When leaving the State Courts, Phoon took off her mask and smiled at the photographers as she walked towards a pickup point.
Benjamin Glynn, a Briton, also had to be told twice by District Judge Lorraine Ho during the hearing to wear his mask properly before he pulled it up to cover his nose.
However, he immediately took the mask off once he stepped out of the State Courts building, a TODAY online report stated.
On May 7, Glynn was filmed explaining to passengers around him in the MRT why he believes masks are pointless.
Despite being offered a mask from another passenger, Glynn refused and said he would never wear one.
It was reported that he was arrested hours later.
Also read: ‘MBS badge woman’ claims in court that she did not know she was required to wear a mask in public
In Jun, Glynn told The Daily Mail that he should not have to go to court and be released because he wants to leave the country.
The man, identified as Benjamin Glynn, a father of two, told The Daily Mail back in his home country that he should be permitted to return to the United Kingdom because he already wants to leave Singapore.
“I had no idea anyone had even been filming, but it turned out a video of me unmasked on the late train home from work surfaced online,” he told the publication.
“The police obviously saw it, and the next day they were at the door.”
Glynn explained that he didn’t believe there is any evidence that masks protect individuals from Covid-19.
“Normally, I would just tell people I’m exempt, and it had never posed any issues before,” said Glynn.
According to Glynn, officers warned him it could up to 12 months for the case to come to trial.
Meanwhile, his family had returned to their home country already. “I want to leave the country anyway – just let me go!” he said.
“I think it’s insane that I am facing a trial at all, just for not wearing a mask,” he added.
It was reported that Glynn’s job position had been revoked.
At about 12.30 am on May 9, he was in the ground floor lift lobby of the Allsworth Park condominium when he allegedly used threatening words towards two police officers.
According to court documents, he allegedly told the officers “I’m gonna f***ing drop you” while adopting a boxing stance.
When asked if he had engaged a legal counsel on Friday, Glynn said that he did, but claimed that his counsel was not allowed to enter the courtroom as he was not wearing the correct attire, and could only sit at the public viewing gallery.
The man whom Glynn referred to as the legal counsel was wearing a striped white polo tee.
As Glynn had arrived at the State Courts building without wearing a mask, security guards at the entrance of the building stopped him and instructed him to put on his mask.
Glynn was seen taking his mask out from his pocket and putting it over his nose. However, when he was asked to check in using his TraceTogether mobile application or token, he gestured that he did not have any of that.
He was only allowed in after the man, who Glynn had referred to as a legal counsel, did a joint check-in for him on his app.
Glynn will return to court for a pre-trial conference on Jul 23. He remains out on bail with S$5,000.