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SINGAPORE – A man accused of trespassing on the premises of the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary last year and defacing a statue of Mary was acquitted of all charges in district court on Monday (January 11).
Race Koh Jun Xian, now 38, received a shock equivalent to an acquittal, meaning that he cannot be charged again with the same crimes.
The online portal of the State Courts did not reveal the reasons for his acquittal.
Koh was charged on November 20 last year with one count each of criminal transgression and desecration of a place of worship with the intent to insult a religion.
He had previously told the court: “I did not do this on purpose. I was sincere in wanting to pray to Mother Mary. I wanted to beautify her, I did not know this was an offense.”
He was then ordered to be sent to the Institute of Mental Health.
According to court documents, the church was closed to the public at the time of the crime on November 12 last year due to renovation work.
Police received a report that same day that the statue in the courtyard of the Catholic church on Upper Serangoon Road had been defaced.
Koh was identified after officers from the Ang Mo Kio Police Division conducted investigations on the ground and viewed images from closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras.
In a Facebook post last year, the church said the statue, a gift from Sultan Ibrahim of Johor more than 70 years ago, has been restored.
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