French teen in straw licking case allowed to leave Singapore

SINGAPORE: A French teen facing criminal charges in Singapore for a straw licking stunt was granted permission on Wednesday (Apr 29) to leave the country for three weeks on pledges to return.

The 18-year-old is accused of posting to social media a video of himself putting the straw he licked back into the dispenser on an orange juice vending machine.

Didier Gaspard Owen Maximilien's clip went viral and triggered a backlash that led to his arrest in Singapore.

The teen's lawyer sought permission from a judge for him to travel to Manila from May 2 to May 25 for an internship, a key requirement for him to graduate.

The judge granted the request after the prosecution posed no objection, but asked that he must remain contactable while overseas and required a S$5,000 (US$3,900) bond.

His next appearance in the Singapore court was also rescheduled from May 22 to May 29.

The teen, who is studying in Singapore and is out on bail, was charged last Friday over the straw stunt.

Maximilien, who was represented by Mr Kalidass Murugaiyan and Mr Kanthan Raghavendra, is accused of public nuisance by filming himself in the act, editing it on Snapchat and uploading the edited video onto his Instagram Story.

He uploaded the video knowing that it "would or would probably cause annoyance to the public", according to court documents.

A second charge of committing mischief said Maximilien knew that he was "likely to cause wrongful loss or damage" to iJooz, the company operating the vending machine which had to replace all 500 straws in the dispenser.

If convicted of mischief, he could be jailed for up to two years, fined, or both.

If convicted of public nuisance, he could be jailed for up to three months, fined up to S$2,000, or both.

Both offences were allegedly committed on Mar 12.