China national who urinated on Outram Park MRT station handrail fined $2k
A man was fined $2,000 for urinating on an escalator handrail at Outram Park MRT station, an act that was captured on video and widely shared on social media.
On Jan 14, Chinese national Li Guorui, 41, pleaded guilty to one charge of being a public nuisance.
The prosecution said Li’s case was among three public urination cases at MRT stations in the past week. One of them took place at Tanah Merah MRT station, which the police are investigating.
The other case occurred at Potong Pasir MRT station, but no details on this case were mentioned in court.
As for the Outram Park case, Deputy Public Prosecutor Jeremy Bin said Li had arrived in Singapore on Jan 2 for a business trip.
On Jan 10, from 7pm to 9pm, Li attended a business dinner at Westgate, where he had a large amount of beer and became heavily intoxicated.
At around 10pm, when he was exiting Outram Park MRT station to return to his hotel in Upper Cross Street, he unzipped his pants and urinated on the handrail of a downward-moving escalator.
He then exited the station and returned to his hotel.
DPP Bin said videos of the act were widely circulated online, with one such video garnering over 2,000 “reactions” on social media.
Li was arrested by the police on Jan 12 and charged in court the next day.
Seeking a fine of between $1,500 and $2,000, the prosecutor said: “It goes without saying that the accused’s actions here were completely unacceptable and rather disconcerting, and his sentence should reflect that.”
He said Li urinated in an area with high footfall, on the only part of the escalator that members of the public would touch, adding: “His act extends beyond just causing annoyance, and concerns issues of sanitation and disease-spreading.”
DPP Bin said that while a cleaner was sent to the scene shortly after Li’s act, staff at the station were unaware that Li had urinated on the handrail, and only the floor of the escalator landing was cleaned at the time.
The prosecutor also noted that since there were two other public urination cases in the last week, a message should be sent by the court to deter such behaviour.
In mitigation, Li, who was unrepresented, said he had committed the offence on the spur of the moment and has cooperated with the authorities during investigations.
Before meting out the sentence, District Judge Paul Chan agreed with the prosecution that Li’s act did not just cause annoyance to the public, but also brought about issues of health and sanitation.
The judge said: “SMRT is now required to service the escalator, on top of its usual service routines. This has cost implications. What the accused has done has an impact on the reputation of SMRT and its ability to provide a safe and clean transportation environment.”
Those found guilty of public nuisance can be fined up to $2,000.
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