The hero who exposed SMRT security lapse finnally release from prison, brother Oliver sorry for our govt mistreatment, but thanks for the security revelation.
A SWISS IT consultant who broke into a depot and spray-painted graffiti on a train was released from prison yesterday morning.
Oliver Fricker, 32, had been sentenced to seven months' jail and three strokes of the cane for trespassing and vandalising an SMRT train in mid-May. The unprecedented act was seen as a serious breach and sparked a review of the security of the public transport network.
Fricker spent less than five months in jail after he received a one-third remission for good behaviour.
He left the Changi Prison Complex in a bus shortly after 8am. It is believed he was taken to the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) building in Lavender for repatriation procedures, although it was not known last night if he had been deported to Switzerland.
It was also unclear whether he would be banned from re-entry in the future.
An ICA spokesman said it cannot comment on individual cases for reasons of confidentiality. Fricker declined to be interviewed when a request was conveyed through the Swiss embassy.
Mr Peter Zimmerli, the deputy head of the mission, said a representative had visited him occasionally during his prison stay and given him consular assistance.
Before his arrest in May, Fricker had lived in Singapore for 18 months and worked as an IT consultant for Switzerland-based company Comit. A company spokesman said yesterday that he remained contracted, but did not elaborate.
Between May 16 and 17, Fricker and an alleged accomplice, Briton Dane Alexander Lloyd, 29, cut a hole in the fence of the Changi depot with a wire-cutter.
They then spray-painted graffiti on a train with the words 'McKoy Banos' - the signature of two graffiti artists believed to have spray-painted trains around the world.
Fricker was arrested two days before he was scheduled to return to his home country on May 27, when his employment contract here expired. Lloyd, who is believed to have fled to Hong Kong, remains at large.
The breach raised questions about public transport security, and led to a Government-led review that is expected to be due before February.
After the incident, SMRT beefed up security at its train and bus depots. The Straits Times reported a fortnight ago that the transport operator was calling for tenders for stronger fences, electronic eyes and 'smart' fence systems that can detect intruders at its train depots.
A spokesman said the transport operator is reviewing the tender submissions.
Meanwhile, the jury is out on whether Fricker and Lloyd are the two graffiti artists behind the well-known 'McKoy Banos' tag.
A 34-year-old graffiti artist, who declined to be named so as not to be seen as 'betraying' the tightly knit community, said: 'There's no doubt about it. I don't think they would have gone out of their way to do something and not put their names.'
But days after Fricker was arrested, videos surfaced in Europe of trains that bore the tag. Artist Mazlan Ahmad, 34, said no one can be sure unless he knows the artist on a personal basis. He said: 'And if someone knows, he won't be telling it through the media.'
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A SWISS IT consultant who broke into a depot and spray-painted graffiti on a train was released from prison yesterday morning.
Oliver Fricker, 32, had been sentenced to seven months' jail and three strokes of the cane for trespassing and vandalising an SMRT train in mid-May. The unprecedented act was seen as a serious breach and sparked a review of the security of the public transport network.
Fricker spent less than five months in jail after he received a one-third remission for good behaviour.
He left the Changi Prison Complex in a bus shortly after 8am. It is believed he was taken to the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) building in Lavender for repatriation procedures, although it was not known last night if he had been deported to Switzerland.
It was also unclear whether he would be banned from re-entry in the future.
An ICA spokesman said it cannot comment on individual cases for reasons of confidentiality. Fricker declined to be interviewed when a request was conveyed through the Swiss embassy.
Mr Peter Zimmerli, the deputy head of the mission, said a representative had visited him occasionally during his prison stay and given him consular assistance.
Before his arrest in May, Fricker had lived in Singapore for 18 months and worked as an IT consultant for Switzerland-based company Comit. A company spokesman said yesterday that he remained contracted, but did not elaborate.
Between May 16 and 17, Fricker and an alleged accomplice, Briton Dane Alexander Lloyd, 29, cut a hole in the fence of the Changi depot with a wire-cutter.
They then spray-painted graffiti on a train with the words 'McKoy Banos' - the signature of two graffiti artists believed to have spray-painted trains around the world.
Fricker was arrested two days before he was scheduled to return to his home country on May 27, when his employment contract here expired. Lloyd, who is believed to have fled to Hong Kong, remains at large.
The breach raised questions about public transport security, and led to a Government-led review that is expected to be due before February.
After the incident, SMRT beefed up security at its train and bus depots. The Straits Times reported a fortnight ago that the transport operator was calling for tenders for stronger fences, electronic eyes and 'smart' fence systems that can detect intruders at its train depots.
A spokesman said the transport operator is reviewing the tender submissions.
Meanwhile, the jury is out on whether Fricker and Lloyd are the two graffiti artists behind the well-known 'McKoy Banos' tag.
A 34-year-old graffiti artist, who declined to be named so as not to be seen as 'betraying' the tightly knit community, said: 'There's no doubt about it. I don't think they would have gone out of their way to do something and not put their names.'
But days after Fricker was arrested, videos surfaced in Europe of trains that bore the tag. Artist Mazlan Ahmad, 34, said no one can be sure unless he knows the artist on a personal basis. He said: 'And if someone knows, he won't be telling it through the media.'
[email protected]
