A full-time Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) national serviceman managed to go absent without official leave (AWOL) over 13 years.

On Oct. 26, Saleh Lamri, 35, pleaded guilty to one count of desertion under the Civil Defence Act at the State Courts and was sentenced to five years jail, as per the High Court sentencing guidelines for National Service defaulters.

Missing on several occasions

Saleh first enlisted on Sept. 17, 2002, before being posted to the SCDF’s National Service Training Institute three months later, on Dec. 29 2002.

From 2003 to 2004, he went AWOL on four occasions.

The first instance was for a week, from Sept. 16 to Sept. 22.

For the offence, he spent 12 days at the detention barracks at SCDF.

Saleh was then jailed seven months for desertion the next month, before going AWOL again less than five months later, from March 3 to April 11, 2004.

After he served 40 days in the detention barracks, Saleh again went AWOL three months later, from July 6 to Aug. 4, 2004, and again from Aug. 20 to Nov. 29, 2004.

Saleh returned to the detention barracks for 40 days and was released on Dec. 29, 2004.

He would fail to report for duty the very next day and would spend the next 13 years AWOL.

Arrested after police check

The SCDF looked for him on three separate occasions over three years, first on Aug. 1 2006, on July 11, 2007 and again on Aug. 20, 2008.

Saleh was finally arrested on March 22, 2018 after a police spot check.

It is understood that Saleh, who was unrepresented, had mentioned that he was the sole breadwinner of his family.

He is appealing against the prison term. He is currently behind bars.

Top image from SCDF’s Facebook page