Alleged voyeur can't return to UK for uni, deemed a flight risk
Judge agrees that student at top British university is flight risk
The alleged voyeur from a top British university will not be allowed to leave Singapore for his next term of studies.
District Judge Adam Nakhoda delivered his decision yesterday after a two-day adjournment, saying he agreed with the prosecution that the man is a flight risk, revoking his earlier decision last week to let him leave the country for his second school term.
Deputy Public Prosecutors Foo Shi Hao and Tan Zhi Hao had presented to the court on Tuesday with evidence that the Singaporean, 22, was planning to abscond. They also requested for the gag order on his name to be lifted, arguing it would be in "public interest" to name him, and that 10 of the 12 identified victims had requested his identity to be revealed.
However, Judge Nakhoda retained the gag order.
He said: "I agree that the victims' consent to the accused's identity being disclosed does not amount to the victims' waiving their rights to anonymity, it is a case of them accepting the risks that their identities may be exposed if the identity of the accused is made known."
He said based on the specificity of the locations and circumstances of the offences, there was a chance of the victims' identities being exposed.
The student, whose university cannot be named, is facing 19 counts of insulting a woman's modesty and one count of possession of obscene films.
He is accused of taking an upskirt video and filming his alleged victims while they were showering, changing, or relieving themselves in toilets at various locations.
On Jan 10, Judge Nakhoda granted the student's application to leave the country.
'MASTER PLAN'
Text messages obtained after that revealed that the man had confided in a "trusted friend" about his "master plan" to abscond, which included seeking asylum overseas.
In the messages, the man confessed that he "honestly might not come back" and told his friend that he was uncertain if he could remain overseas.
When his friend sought clarification, he explained that he was afraid to be deported.
The man also went through the pros and cons of remaining in Singapore and said that doing so would result in "metaphorical death".
His lawyer, Mr Kalidass Murugaiyan, said his client was alluding to physical death, citing another conversation between the man and another friend to prove he had suicidal thoughts.
But Judge Nakhoda disagreed: "I think that the accused was concerned that his future may be adversely affected if he remained in Singapore."
In the messages, the man's friend also asked him if he thought he would be able to get asylum, to which he replied: "Well, that's in the master plan."
He did not correct her to tell her she had misunderstood his meaning, the judge noted.
On his decision to retain the gag order on the man's name, Judge Nakhoda noted that one of the victims was still hesitant, and the other had not been consulted at her family's request.
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