A 32-year-old Thai national was fined S$15,000 on Jun. 12, 2026, after he flew a drone without the required permits and recorded footage of military areas in the west of Singapore.

Charge sheets and court documents seen by Mothership stated that Prayut Rittichaipornkul pleaded guilty to two offences under the Air Navigation Act and Air Navigation (101 - Unmanned Aircraft Operations) Regulations.

Five other charges of similar nature were taken into consideration during sentencing.

He is based in Bangkok, Thailand, and works as a freelance photographer for various companies, CNA reported.

Bought drone

Court documents stated that some time in 2025, Prayut, who was in Thailand, bought a DJI Mavic 4 Pro drone for his photography work and recreation purposes.

CNA reported that before March 2026, the Thailand office of C&R Interiors engaged Prayut's photography services.

A Singapore-registered company, its office is located at 20 Joo Koon Crescent, near Pasir Laba Camp and SAFTI Military Institute, both of which are listed as protected areas.

It also has offices in Thailand and Malaysia.

Sometime in March 2026, he was invited by an employee of C&R Interiors to attend the opening ceremony of a subsidiary company in Malaysia.

Deployed drone

CNA reported that Prayut decided to visit Singapore before going to Kuala Lumpur, and arrived here on Apr. 20.

At the employee's invitation, he visited the Singapore office the next day.

Prayut was asked to take photographs and videos of the Singapore office to be used in marketing materials in Thailand.

He initially used a handheld camera. However, being dissatisfied with the quality of footage and photographs, he decided to deploy his drone.

Did not have permit

Court documents stated that at about 8:20am on Apr. 21, 2026, Prayut began to operate the drone at the Singapore office, where he intended to take aerial videos of the exterior building.

The drone, which he operated for about 26 minutes at a maximum altitude of 459m above mean sea level, flew over protected areas comprising SAFTI Military Institute and Pasir Laba Camp.

The Republic of Singapore Air Force then detected an unidentified drone flying into the protected areas at about 8:23am, according to CNA.

After alerting the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS), CAAS traced the drone to Prayut's location at the Singapore office of C&R Interiors, CNA reported.

AETOS Auxiliary police officers were then dispatched to the location.

Drone seized, penalties

Prayut had not been requested by C&R Interiors to operate an unmanned aircraft (UA) in Singapore

He also did not check official sources if he was permitted to operate a UA here, which requires a Class 1 activity permit, according to court documents.

CNA reported that the drone was found to contain at least 18 video recordings, three of which had captured parts of the protected areas.

The deputy public prosecutor sought a fine of S$15,000, which was imposed by court.

For operating an unmanned aircraft for business without a permit, a person may be fined up to S$50,000, or jailed for up to two years, or both.

A person who operates an unmanned aircraft over a protected area without a permit may face the same maximum penalty.

Siranudh “Psi” Bhirombhakdi Scott, 29, the Singha beer heir who recently accused his older brother of sexual abuse, tore up in front of cameras a contract that reportedly bought his silence for five million baht per year (S$195,500), Thai PBS World reported.

Siranudh was in court for a hearing in a case filed by his mother over the inheritance left to him by Siranudh's late grandfather, Thai Enquirer wrote.

'You cannot buy my voice'

According to Thai PBS World, Siranudh described the case brought against him by his mother as a "case of an ungrateful child".

Siranudh's mother had filed a lawsuit against him over the inheritance left to him by his late grandfather, the former chairman of the Singha business group.

Thai media reports showed Siranudh being greeted by a warm crowd in court.

Siranudh's older brother, Sunit "Pi" Scott, also appeared in court for the case's hearing as a witness.

Speaking to the media after the hearing, Siranudh revealed that he had signed an agreement with his family about three years ago that bought his silence for five million baht a year (S$195,500).

The agreement reportedly came to be after Siranudh told his family about being sexually assaulted by a nanny, Thai Enquirer reported.

In front of the cameras, the 29-year-old tore up that agreement and commented:

"You cannot buy my voice, buy humanity. If you use money and power, use it elsewhere. I won't get involved in something like this."

A statement by Thai courts stated that the mediation between the family members are underway.

They are due back in court on Jun. 16, Thai PBS World wrote.

Background

Siranudh “Psi” Scott is a fourth-generation member of the Bhirombhakdi family, who founded the Singha beer brewery, and a conservation activist.

In May 2026, he claimed in an emotional social media video that his older brother, Sunit, had sexually abused him during their teen years.

He alleged that their mother knew but had asked him to keep mum.

Siranudh also claimed that his nanny also sexually assaulted him, but the matter was similarly swept under the rug after the nanny threatened his mother with his brother's "secret".

Siranudh was eventually kicked out of their home in Hua Hin and moved to southern Thailand in 2020.

He later released audio recordings related to the allegations.

The 29-year-old explained that he was speaking up now as he felt that his family had lost the values his late grandfather, the former chairman of the family business, had held.

The allegations also come amid a bitter inheritance dispute after Siranudh's mother sued him over inheritance assets left to him by his late grandfather, reported The Bangkok Post.

Sunit has thus far denied the allegations.

A total of 120 people were evacuated from Block 125 Rivervale Street after a fire broke out in a third floor unit bedroom on Jun. 12, 2026, with six people sent to the hospital.

There was no one in the unit when the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) arrived.

Footage of smoke was captured by a Mothership reader.

At about 4:12pm on Jun. 12, large black plumes of smoke were observed rising from a building visible from the reader's 14th floor bedroom window at Rivervale Drive.

The reader said they also heard sirens heading towards the affected building at about 4:15pm.

They told Mothership that the higher vantage point made it difficult to see the incident as it appeared to have taken place on a lower floor.

Prior to this, the reader had been studying when she noticed and could smell the smoke.

6 sent to hospital for smoke inhalation

Responding to Mothership's queries, SCDF said they were alerted at about 4:10pm on Jun. 12 to a fire at Block 125 Rivervale Street.

The fire involved a bedroom in a unit on the third floor, SCDF said, adding that there was no one in the unit when SCDF arrived.

SCDF extinguished the fire with a water jet and about 120 persons were evacuated from the affected block by the police as a precautionary measure.

SCDF conveyed six persons to Singapore General Hospital for smoke inhalation.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Three people died after a supply boat sank off Pasir Panjang Terminal at about 9:30am on Jun. 12, 2026, after colliding with a landing craft.

According to a Jun. 12 Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) media release, the MPA, Police Coast Guard (PCG), and SCDF Marine Division immediately activated their crafts to the incident site and commenced search and rescue operations.

The release stated that the landing craft is stable with no reported injury to the crew on board.

3 bodies recovered

It added that PCG has recovered three bodies from the waters, believed to be deceased crew members of the sunken supply boat.

Search and rescue operations, including diving operations, are ongoing to determine if there are other crew members from the supply boat missing.

Noting that port operations have not been affected, the release added that navigational broadcasts have been issued advising vessels to keep clear of the incident area.

Investigations into the incident are ongoing.

After hurting her ankle at work, a security officer was offered a work injury compensation worth more than six months of her salary, but chose to reject it and sue her employer for negligence instead.

She ended up losing the suit as she was unable to prove that her employer breached its duty of care, according to a judgment dated May 25.

The District Judge Evans Ng called her case "wholly meritless".

In a separate judgment dated Jun. 9, he ordered the woman to pay a total of about S$11,577 in legal costs to her employer.

The accident

The injury happened on Aug. 4, 2021, when Nirmala Thangavellu was deployed by her employer, Acestes, to a condo in Sengkang.

Stationed at an entrance of the condo, she encountered a delivery rider who refused to stop and provide his particulars to her, she testified in an affidavit.

She claimed that while trying to "chase" the rider, she lost her footing on the uneven ground and injured her right ankle.

CCTV footage showed that Nirmala fell, but after appearing to walk smoothly. No deliveryman was seen in the video, which was played several times at the trial.

Nirmala's lawyers argued that the video shown at court was cut too short, and the preceding portion of the CCTV footage would have shown the delivery rider's actions.

The work injury claim

A claim was made under the Work Injury Compensation Act (WICA), and it was assessed by the Commissioner for Labour at a sum that was more than six months' salary for her at the time.

But Nirmala submitted a notice of objection, and seemed to have withdrawn her claim later, according to the May 25 judgement.

More than a year later, she engaged lawyers to file a suit against Acestes for negligence.

The reason given for the objection was that the "settlement under WICA is insufficient".

Lacking support for her allegations

Ng pointed out in the judgment that Nirmala was the only witness for her case.

He said her evidence of any negligence was limited to saying that "proper safeguards and support were not put in place to prevent such accidents", without giving specifics on what could be implemented and whether they were feasible or reasonable.

Nirmala's lawyers also did not attempt to prove that her employer breached its duty of care, Ng added.

Their closing submissions did not make such an allegation, but argued that Nirmala's employer "owed her a duty of care", and that she was "entitled to full compensation for the losses suffered".

Unable to find any material supporting the negligence allegation, Ng dismissed the case.

Costs

Acestes' lawyers sought, among other things, S$20,000 or S$25,000 in party-and-party costs, according to the Jun. 9 judgement.

Nirmala's lawyers, however, proposed during the cost negotiations that Nirmala should not have to bear costs because she is not well-off financially.

Ng asserted that this was "rarely a sufficient reason for departing from the general rule".

He also questioned this claim about her financial state, highlighting that she has been able to pay her own disbursements for court fees, which were around S$1,400, and can afford to engage four senior lawyers from two different firms.

Ng gave a 25 per cent discount on the minimum for pre-trial work costs in negligence cases, as suggested by the State Courts, lowering it from S$9,000 to S$6,750.

Adding that on top of S$2,500 for trial work, S$1,000 for post-trial work, and S$1,327.70 as disbursement to Acestes, the total fees Nirmala was instructed to pay were S$11,577.70.

Singaporean actor Christopher Lee, 54, will star in Crooks, Singapore's first AI-hybrid drama, which has begun production, according to The Straits Times (ST).

The nine-episode series uses AI-assisted technology in post-production to build environments that cannot be constructed physically. This includes background creation, virtual set design, relighting, and spatial expansion.

According to Zaobao, the production leaned more heavily on AI after some investors pulled out, leading to a reduction of 40 per cent in funding.

This would be the catalyst in turning the production into an AI-hybrid.

ST reported that actors first perform on live-action sets, where their expressions, timing, and emotional intent are captured before AI workflows are applied.

Inspired by a real story

Crooks is inspired by the life of Benny Se Teo, a Singaporean ex-convict who founded restaurant Eighteen Chefs in 2007 to give troubled youths and ex-offenders a second chance at reintegration into society.

Lee plays Ah Cheng, a former convict who takes over a struggling restaurant and attempts to piece his life back together through cooking.

According to ST, Lee said of the movie:

"Crooks is a story about second chances, but also about how difficult it is to accept one when you do not feel you deserve it."

Lee told Zaobao that while he is not averse to working with AI, he has set clear boundaries on what he would not do. This includes not letting AI use his likeness to act for him, stating that actors must have their own ideas and interpretations of the scene.

"AI cannot replace the tremble in an actor's voice"

The series is produced by local filmmaker Boi Kwong, founder of Singapore-based film production company B-01 Films.

He said in a statement, reported by ST:

"AI cannot replace the tremble in an actor's voice, the silence between two people, or the truth of a performance. What it can do is give Singapore film-makers more room to build the world around those moments."

He added:

"The technology is there to support the story, not to take over it. It allows us to imagine with greater scale while keeping the emotion close."

According to ST, the production is also reskilling more than 50 crew members across production, technical, and editing roles to work in AI-enabled environments.

A 20-year-old male Chinese national was fined S$4,000 after he sexually assaulted a female schoolmate at an international school in Singapore, while pretending to be late for class.

Both individuals did not know each other.

The accused pleaded guilty to one count of outrage of modesty, Shin Min Daily News reported.

A gag order was imposed to protect the victim.

“Accidental”

On Oct. 6, 2025, at about 8:34am, the victim was on the first floor of the school building and was about to take the stairs to the second floor.

The 20-year-old, who was behind the victim, stared at her back and apparently felt an impulse to touch her.

He then pulled down his backpack on his shoulder and clutched it tightly in his hand, pretending to be late for class.

He then briskly walked past the victim and reached out his right hand, touching the victim’s buttocks.

The victim, who was wearing shorts, felt the accused fingers touch her.

She then confronted him on the spot.

The accused immediately pointed to his school bag and claimed it was an “accidental” touch.

The victim did not accept his explanation and lodged a police report on the same day at about 1:28pm, alleging that the accused sexually harassed her.

Investigation

Using surveillance footage from the school, police found evidence of the offence.

The accused was arrested on Feb. 5, 2026.

His lawyers stated that the accused has been expelled from the international school as a result of the incident.

They cited that the time and effort he had invested in studying locally were rendered “meaningless”.

He pleaded leniency, and his lawyers urged the judge to impose a fine not exceeding S$3,000.

The prosecution argued that the accused's actions did not meet the threshold for imprisonment and explained that he did not touch the victim’s private parts and there was no direct skin contact.

The had prosecution urged the judge to sentence the accused to a S$5,000 fine.

A 35-year-old Singaporean woman was sentenced to five weeks' jail on Jun. 12, 2026, after she falsely accused her ex-boyfriend of rape, despite having consensual sex with him.

CNA reported that Liau Wan Ting had pleaded guilty to one count of providing false information to a public servant for making a false rape allegation against her ex-boyfriend in a police report.

Liau was concerned that her ex-boyfriend would not take responsibility if she became pregnant.

This was after she used a birth control patch that had expired.

Her ex-boyfriend, whose identity is protected by a gag order, cannot be named, and court documents seen by Mothership did not state his age.

Remained friends

Liau, who was doing food delivery at the time, had met the victim through TikTok in 2024, and they began a romantic relationship in August 2024.

Though they ended the relationship in October 2025, they continued to be friends and had sexual relations.

At about 1am on Jan. 7, 2026, Liau asked the victim to pick her up, after which they went to the victim's residence and had consensual sex.

Concept of consent

After breakfast, they parted ways and that evening, Liau called her sister-in-law, asking if sex with someone not considered her partner could be considered as rape.

Her sister-in-law explained to her about consent and court documents stated that Liau falsely told her sister-in-law that she had been raped by the victim.

This was in spite of Liau being aware of the difference between consensual sex and rape.

Her sister-in-law then advised her to lodge a police report and Liau did so at about 6:48pm.

Maintained lie, admitted later

Liau continued to maintain her lie about being raped to an investigating officer and to a duty officer from the Singapore Police Force's Serious Sexual Crimes Branch.

She was then escorted to a medical examination at the One-Stop Abuse Forensic Examination (OneSAFE) centre within the Police Cantonment Complex.

Court documents stated that this allows victims of sexual crime to undergo forensic medical examination without being taken to the hospital and to be interviewed at a single, private location, reducing the likelihood of encountering other people.

At about 11:37pm on Jan. 7, 2026, after a police officer started recording her statement, Liau admitted that she had lied about being raped.

She also stated that the sexual intercourse had been consensual.

In addition, Liau explained that she had lied because her birth control patch had expired on Jan. 6, 2026, and she was concerned that the victim would not take responsibility if she became pregnant.

Though she maintained her lie out of fear that she would be jailed, she recanted her false allegation as she did not want her ex-boyfriend to be arrested or jailed.

Victim investigated

However, court documents stated that police officers had already started investigating the victim at that time.

In the wee hours of Jan. 8, 2026, he was traced and taken to the Police Cantonment Complex.

He also had a blood sample taken and said during a video-recorded interview from 3:46am to 4:29am that sex with Liau had been consensual.

At about 1:26am on the same day, a forensic medical examination was conducted by the doctor at the OneSAFE centre, with a nurse present, where Liau told the doctor that her sexual intercourse with the victim was consensual and there was no assault.

A further statement was recorded from Liau at 1:41am on the same day to confirm her position that she had consented to having sexual intercourse with the victim.

Reasons for jail

The deputy public prosecutor, in citing deterrence as the primary sentencing consideration, sought a three-week jail sentence for Liau.

She said this was because "the false information caused an innocent person to be subjected to investigations and led to a significant wastage of public resources, which would not have occurred otherwise".

Court documents stated that 13 officers, one doctor and one nurse had been activated for investigations.

It added that the victim had to undergo the "disconcerting experience of having to give his statement and go through various procedures in the wee hours of the morning".

Noting that Liau had provided false information to three officers, the prosecutor said: "False allegations of rape are particularly egregious as they not only waste public resources and cause distress to innocent persons but also do a grave disservice to genuine victims of sexual assault, whose accounts may consequently be met with unwarranted scepticism."

She added: "The sentencing of such cases must sound a clarion call of general deterrence even as it considers the need for individual retribution."

Sentencing, penalties

Shin Min Daily News reported that when the victim attended the court hearing, he was asked if he would be seeking compensation from Liau.

To that, the victim said he would not be doing so.

He added that he did not resent Liau, and just hoped the matter could be settled as soon as possible.

Shin Min reported that the judge said in sentencing that making false allegations of rape against innocent persons was no small matter.

The judge added that since such claims may be difficult to verify, it often depends on the testimony of both parties.

Even if the claim was eventually proven to be false, the reputation of the accused could already have been irreparably damaged, the judge said.

For providing false information to a public servant, an offender can be jailed up to two years, or fined, or both.

A 54-year-old Japanese truck driver pleaded guilty to negligent driving resulting in death after causing a multi-vehicle collision that killed six people in total.

She was distracted by her smartphone when the incident took place in Mie, Japan.

The deceased included a family of five, as well as a man driving from Saitama.

The driver, Mitsuyo Mizutani, from Hiroshima, admitted to the charge on Jun. 10, NHK World and CBC reported.

Collision

The incident occurred on Mar. 20 at about 2:20am in a tunnel on the Shin-Meishin Expressway, near the exit of the Nonobori Tunnel on the southbound side, Yomiuri Shimbun reported.

Mizutani rear-ended a vehicle that was in traffic behind a line of other vehicles, due to a road work.

The passenger car that was hit by her truck, as well as another passenger vehicle involved in the collision, were crushed between the truck and a large trailer.

This caused vehicles to catch fire.

She told investigators that she “was not driving that fast” but “was not watching the road carefully”.

She also told police she was looking at her smartphone.

TikTok

The prosecution said that while Mituzani was driving, she was talking hands-free on her phone with a colleague.

She then began watching a cooking video on TikTok.

Mituzani looked away from the road for approximately 13 seconds as she attempted to take a screenshot of the video before slamming into the line of cars in the tunnel.

Relatives of the victims, who attended the hearing, also issued statements.

They were reportedly angry as the victims “bore absolutely no responsibility” for the accident and lost their lives due to Mituzani’s driving.

On Aug. 15, One Punggol Hawker Centre will be managed by Hawkermania, replacing operator Timbre+ Hawkers.

The appointment was announced on National Environment Agency's (NEA) social media.

Timbre+ Hawkers is ending its tenure on Aug 14, a year short of its three-year contract.

They previously requested an early termination of the lease, citing operational challenges for the company.

Tenure

NEA launched a new tender for the One Punggol Hawker Centre in Jan. 2026 and announced in a statement that Timbre+ Hawkers would not be taking part.

Hawkermania secured a management contract of up to nine years with the second-lowest bid of S$3.64 million, according to data from the government procurement portal GeBIZ seen by 8world.

In comparison, the highest bid during the tender process came from Canopy Hawkers at S$5,594,400.

Hawkermania is a subsidiary of Kimly Group, which is one of Singapore's largest traditional coffee shop operators, according to its 2025 annual report.

Looking forward

Stallholders are hoping the incoming management will boost the hawker centre's visibility.

Since the nearby Punggol Coast Hawker Centre opened its doors on July 25, 2025, several vendors at One Punggol noticed a drop in foot traffic, with business falling by nearly 30 per cent, 8world reported.

To draw residents back, stallholders suggested introducing more community events and surrounding amenities, such as convenience stores or supermarkets.

Meanwhile, residents interviewed by 8world remarked that though the hawker centre was spacious with good food quality, having a wider variety of food with wallet-friendly offerings would be key to drawing larger crowds.

One Punggol

One Punggol Hawker Centre first opened on Oct 31, 2022, and has more than 30 hawkers, according to information on its website.

Outgoing operator Timbre+ Hawkers initially bagged a two-year contract to run the space starting September 2022. It subsequently secured a second deal in August 2024 to manage the centre for three years until August 2027, before making its decision to exit early.