An 18-year-old French student in Singapore is suspected of taking a straw from an orange juice vending machine, licking it and putting it in his mouth, and then returning the straw to the vending machine's straw box. He faced charges on the 24th.
According to Lianhe Zaobao, the defendant, Maxime, was charged in the State Courts with one count each of mischief and public nuisance.
The incident occurred at around 2 p.m. on March 12, at Goldhill Shopping Centre, Thomson Road.
Court documents indicate that the defendant recorded himself licking the straw and returning it to the vending machine box, edited the video, and uploaded it to Instagram Stories.
The orange juice vending machine company, iJooz, subsequently replaced all 500 straws in the machine, with a total value of 5 Singapore dollars.
According to court records, he has not yet indicated whether he will plead guilty.
The defendant holds a student pass and is studying alone in Singapore. According to court documents, his parents will be flying into Singapore on April 24.
The defendant is currently out on bail of 5,000 Singapore dollars, with a representative from his school acting as his bailor. His next court appearance is scheduled for May 22.
The offense of mischief is punishable by up to two years’ imprisonment, a fine, or both. The offense of public nuisance is punishable by up to three months’ imprisonment, a maximum fine of 2,000 Singapore dollars, or both.