Canadian convicted of bank robbery in Singapore escapes flogging | Scientist

David James Roach, who robbed a Standard Chartered bank branch in 2016, was extradited from the UK to Singapore in 2020 after the Asian city-state assured him he would not be whipped.

The 31-year-old has pleaded guilty to bank robbery and money laundering, for taking the stolen money from the country, and he was sentenced on Wednesday (7).

A legacy of the British colonial period, rattan flogging is a common punishment in the Asian city-state and a mandatory punishment in cases of theft.

But The Home Office and Singapore’s attorney general’s office said they were implementing “measures necessary to fulfill the guarantee given to the British government”..

Roach broke into a branch and took US$30,000 in Singapore dollars (more than 115,000 R$ at current rates) after giving a bank teller a piece of paper saying he was armed and committed a robbery.

It was an unusual burglary in a country with very low crime rates.

Escape, arrest and surrender

The Canadian initially fled to Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, where he was arrested on charges of bringing stolen money into the country. But the local authorities refused to send him to Singapore because the two countries do not have an extradition agreement.

After his release, Roach was detained at London Heathrow on his way back to Canada, and Singapore requested his extradition to the United Kingdom.

Singapore and the UK have an extradition treaty, but The British government agreed to deport Roach only if the city-state agreed not to inflict corporal punishment..

UK states have abolished flogging as a form of punishment decades ago, and have refused to carry out extraditions to countries where the punishment is still applicable.

Despite the agreement, the Singapore government said in a statement that Flogging “does not constitute torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, and does not violate international law.”.

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