The circuit breaker (CB) is now a thing of the past.
But we’ll never forget some of the incidents that took place, such as the Robertson Quay gathering.
If you’re not sure what it is, I’ll give a quick refresher.
Basically, two groups of people were arrested for illegally gathering and drinking during the CB period and a total of seven were convicted.
The first group consisted of four men went on a pub crawl, visiting three pubs to drink and chat.
They were Neil Gordon Buchan, a 30-year-old British national; Perry Scott Blair, a 37-year-old British citizen; James Titus Beatt, a 33-year-old British national and Joseph William Poynter, a 35-year-old British citizen.
The second was a married couple who met a man walking a dog and offered him a beer.
This group consisted of American couple Bao Nguyen Brown, 40, and Jeffrey George Brown, 52, along with Michael Czerny, a 45-year-old Austrian national.
And today, we have yet another update on this case.
Finalised Punishments
According to CNA, all seven have had their punishments finalised.
Firstly, those involved in the pub crawl will be fined $9,000 each.
They will however not serve the prosecution’s recommendation of one-week jail time.
The amount of money still hurts though.
The second group of three were fined $8000 dollars and also weren’t given any jail time.
Regardless, all of them were charged breaching COVID-19 regulations without a valid reason.
But we also need to take a closer look at the situation leading up to this.
Meeting By Chance
The prosecutor had footage of the first group meeting and drinking outside Rosso Vino but they actually met up slightly earlier.
Beatt ran into Poynter, who had just cycled to Robertson Quay, while Buchan bumped into them at the Bar Bar Black Sheep Bar after ending his walk, and Blair had gone for a run.
The four then made their way to Boomerang for drinks and smokes before recovering at Rosso Vino. Each bar visit lasted around 45 minutes and they all had their masks down.
But that was just the first group.
Meanwhile, the Brown’s were going to get dinner and saw a buy-three-get-one-free offer from TAP@Robertson Quay.
It was there when they met Czerny and offered him a drink, chatting for around thirty minutes.
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Sentencing Of First Group
Deputy Public Prosecutor Timotheus Koh initially wanted to give the one-week jail term on top of the fine to the first group.
He mentioned that many frontliners had given up socialising to spread of the virus while these guys flouted the rules.
They were also less than a metre apart and not practising safe distancing measures.
However, a defence lawyer representing Beatt and Bucan also cited that neither has been in trouble with the law before.
They’d also been staying in Singapore for a while and were touted to be person’s of ‘good character.’
He also tried to cite that the two have been harassed online following this but Mr Koh overruled it, saying it was a matter outside court.
Second Group
In fact, Mr Koh actually asked for a $9000 fine for the second group as well.
Lawyer Mirza Namazie, who represented the Browns and Czerny, said that the latter was just there at an unfortunate timing.
In fact, he states that the Browns have a son who has been subject to many passing comments over the situation.
They may have done wrong but if your son’s teacher called and asked “when they were leaving Singapore”, I’d say that’s a bit too much.
Mr Mirza said that both parties were traumatised and the incident only happened because Czerny lived nearby.
He asked for fines of $2,000 but pleaded to not have an upward fine of anything near $10000
District Judge Bala Reddy felt that while heavy fines needed to be imposed on both groups, the jail term was unnecessary.
Despite breaching COVID-19 measures, it was balanced because it did not “last beyond an hour … and was contained within Robertson Quay”.
Their charges could have gone up to $10000, a jail term or both.
People who break the law should be punished, yes but still, we shouldn’t harass these people or make derogatory comments.
And again, remember, while it’s Phase Two, Covid-19 rules are still in effect.
So enjoy your newfound freedom, sure. Just don’t enjoy it too much like these people.
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