Teens plead guilty to public nuisance charges after drink sampling incident at supermarket

The deputy public prosecutor asked for a probation sentence.

Sulaiman Daud | July 16, 2020, 11:36 PM

The teenagers who 'sampled' some juice in a supermarket and placed it back on the shelf have each pleaded guilty to one count of committing an act of public nuisance.

On Feb. 6, Quek Xuan Zhi, 17, filmed Nigel Pang Yew Ming, 18, sipping from the juice bottle.

He then shared the video on his Instagram account, with the caption: "how to spread Wuhan virus."

Hours after the incident, the duo released an apology and asked for a "second chance."

They said they paid for the juice bottles, and that they recognised the heightened sensitivity around hygiene matters in light of the Covid-19 outbreak.

Video went viral

According to CNA, Pang retracted his earlier position that he did not consent to the caption. He agreed to the statement of facts that he knew what caption Quek would use, and that would share it on Instagram.

Quek's defence counsel said that the video was uploaded onto his private account, and it was a friend who circulated it and made it go viral.

However, Deputy Public Prosecutor Timotheus Koh said that Quek knew he had a "substantial following" of at least 1,360 followers, and it was likely that the video would spread.

Koh added he wouldn't object to calling for probation suitability reports for both Quek and Pang.

Pang's defence counsel agreed with this and said that a probation is "the most appropriate sentence."

For committing an act of public nuisance, both teens could be jailed for up to three months, fined up to S$2,000 or both.

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Top image via @jelenece on Twitter.