Benjamin Glynn to be deported by ICA: Singapore Prison Service
SINGAPORE — British expatriate Benjamin Glynn was released from detention and handed over to the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) on Wednesday, Singapore Prison Service (SPS) said on Thursday (19 August).
The 40-year-old was sentenced to six weeks' jail on Wednesday after being convicted of four charges relating to failing to wear his mask, being a public nuisance and for threatening police officers. He was found guilty of all charges after a one-day trial where he represented himself. Glynn's jail term was backdated to 19 July, the date of his remand.
Responding to a query from Yahoo News Singapore, the SPS confirmed that Glynn was released from SPS and handed over to the ICA on Wednesday. ICA will be making arrangements for his deportation to his home country, according to the SPS.
The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said in a separate statement that it has permanently banned Glynn from working in Singapore. His work pass had been cancelled by his former employer earlier, MOM added.
Glynn was remanded in prison from 19 July to 4 August and was later remanded at the Institute of Mental Health from 5 to 18 August.
Glynn was convicted by District Judge Eddy Tham of not wearing a mask while in an MRT train on 7 May, causing public nuisance on 7 May, threatening police officers who went to his residence on 8 and 9 May, and failing to wear a mask within and in the vicinity of the State Courts on 2 July.
In his defence, Glynn claimed that the law involving masks did not apply to him, and that he did not remember threatening the police officers.
"I understand trust law, contract law, tort law, I have studied this for quite a long time. It is not difficult to understand common law. I know what a crime is, there must be a victim which is a living man or woman, not a legal fiction which is what you are, officers. You are not living men and women, they are legal fictions. I am living man, I control my public trust,” he said.
“So therefore I do not consent to this maritime contract, I have not agreed to (a) contract and they have no jurisdiction over me, it's fairly simple," he said.
However DJ Tham found that Glynn's understanding of the law was "completely misguided" as the COVID-19 legislations were passed under law by Singapore's Parliament.
The judge added that Glynn's inability to remember his threats as "woefully insufficient to raise a reasonable doubt".
For the offence of causing public nuisance, Glynn could have been jailed up to three months, fined up to $2,000, or both.
For contravening the COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) (Control Order) Regulations 2020, he could have been jailed up to six months, or a fine of up to $10,000, or both.
For using threatening words towards a public servant under the Protection from Harassment Act, he could have been jailed up to 12 months, or fined up to $5,000, or both.
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