Brit On Trial For Not Wearing Mask In Singapore 'Sent To Mental Health Facility'

A Brit who was caught riding a train in Singapore without a face mask has reportedly been sent to a mental health facility.

Father-of-two Benjamin Glynn, from Helmsley, North Yorkshire, believes masks are pointless and fail to protect people from contracting Covid-19, so he didn't wear one while taking the train home from work in May.

A fellow commuter secretly filmed him and put the clip on social media, prompting officers to arrest him hours later.

SWNS

The 40-year-old was charged with four offences, including failing to wear a mask without reasonable excuse, public nuisance and using threatening words towards a public servant.

But after ranting in court on the first day of his trial yesterday (Thursday 5 August), he was sent to a mental health facility, according to Channel News Asia (CNA).

Glynn had described the proceedings in court as 'preposterous' and 'disgusting', stating that he would plead neither guilty or not guilty, as the charges were 'nonsense'.

The prosecution said a letter from Glynn's family stated that they had noticed 'a marked change' in his behaviour since Covid-19 restrictions had been brought in.

According to CNA, Deputy Public Prosecutor Timotheus Koh told the court: "Prosecution has received a letter from the accused's family and friends or persons purporting to be his family and friends and in this letter, the persons report a marked change of behaviour in the accused's person that was noticeable especially after the Covid restrictions set in."

After the judge ruled that he should be sent to the mental health facility until 19 August, Glynn raised his voice, objecting to the 'absolutely outrageous injustice'.

SWNS

He said: "I am disgusted. How can you send an innocent man to prison when he has not been found guilty and the charges do not apply to him?

"I am disgusted at how the Singapore judicial system has treated me and my family."

Glynn had been working for a Singapore branch of a British recruitment company since January 2017.

Weeks before he was due to return to the UK for a new job, he was filmed without a face mask near Raffles Place, in the financial district of the country.

Speaking in June, Glynn said: "Especially when I don't even believe masks stop the spread of the virus in the first place.

"I honestly believe it's a hoax - I don't feel there is any evidence to show mask-wearing is effective in any way.

"From a scientific basis, I think it's nonsense."

Topics: UK News, Singapore, crime, Covid-19

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey