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Shaffiq Alkhatib
The times of the strait
August 27, 2020
Two teens linked to a beverage sampling incident at a supermarket amid the Covid-19 outbreak were sentenced to probation on Thursday (August 27).
Nigel Pang Yew Ming, 18, and his 17-year-old friend pleaded guilty on July 16 to one count of public nuisance.
Both teens were sentenced to nine months of probation and their parents received a $ 5,000 bond to ensure their good behavior.
The couple must perform 60 hours of community service and must also stay indoors from 10 pm to 6 am every day.
The youngest offender can no longer appear in news reports due to recent amendments to the Children and Adolescents Act, which now covers adolescents under the age of 18.
The two Singaporeans went to a FairPrice store on Bukit Batok West Avenue 7 around 6.45pm on February 6 and Pang grabbed two bottles of fruit juice from a refrigerated shelf.
He tasted both drinks before putting them back on the shelf.
The 17-year-old boy recorded his friend’s antics and the video was posted on Instagram, through an Instastory, with the caption “How to spread the Wuhan virus.”
Wuhan is a Chinese city that was the epicenter of the Covid-19 outbreak at the time.
In a previous statement, police said an acquaintance recorded a copy of the video and circulated it online.
Police added that this caused public alarm and concern.
Assistant District Attorney Timotheus Koh had said that Pang later paid for the two bottles of juice.
Pang also knew that the friend would caption the video “How to spread the Wuhan virus” and post it on Instagram.
Pang told him to highlight the fact that he had paid for the juice bottles.
The friend published this information in a later Instastory.
The DPP had previously told the court that the video gained traction on social media, with many members of the public expressing their annoyance at the antics of the teens.
A 21-year-old woman who came across the clip alerted police on February 8.
For being a public nuisance, an offender can be jailed for up to three months and fined up to $ 2,000.
