Man seen without mask on MRT train charged; shows up at court without mask, TraceTogether token or app

• During a court hearing, Benjamin Glynn had to be told twice by the judge to wear his mask properly 
• Glynn faces three charges, including making a nuisance of himself in public and using threatening language against police officers
• He allegedly adopted a boxing stance when he told the officers “I’m gonna f***ing drop you”
• In the MRT train, he allegedly declared “I will never wear a mask”

SINGAPORE — A 39-year-old man who was not wearing a mask on an MRT train and made a nuisance of himself in public was hauled to court to face three charges on Friday (July 2), but he turned up at court without wearing a mask as well.

Benjamin Glynn, a Briton, also had to be told twice by District Judge Lorraine Ho during the hearing to wear his mask properly before he pulled it up to cover his nose.

However, he immediately took the mask off once he stepped out of the State Courts building.

Glynn is accused of not wearing a mask when travelling on an MRT train on May 7, making a nuisance of himself in public and using threatening language against police officers.

Court documents stated that, past 11pm on May 7, he was travelling from Raffles Place MRT Station to Holland Village MRT Station when he allegedly declared “I will never wear a mask” on the train, "knowing that the said act will probably cause annoyance to the public".

Then at about 12.30am on May 9, he was in the ground floor lift lobby of the Allsworth Park condominium when he allegedly used threatening words towards two police officers. 

He allegedly told the officers “I’m gonna f***ing drop you” while adopting a boxing stance.

When asked if he had engaged a legal counsel on Friday, Glynn said that he did, but claimed that his counsel was not allowed to enter the courtroom as he was not wearing the correct attire and could only sit at the public viewing gallery. 

The man whom Glynn referred to as the legal counsel was wearing a striped white polo tee.

Glynn also told the judge: “He is not a lawyer. He is a legal counsel.”

Confused, District Judge Ho asked if he is a lawyer that can represent him in court and Glynn said: “Yes. I believe so.”

After the case was briefly stood down for the man to enter the courtroom, the police prosecutor told the court that the man had stated that he would indeed be making representations to the Attorney-General's Chambers.

When asked if he intends to claim trial or plead guilty on Friday, Glynn said: “I don’t understand the options.” 

Glynn will return to court for a pre-trial conference on July 23. He remains out on bail with S$5,000.

DID NOT HAVE TRACETOGETHER APP OR TOKEN 

As Glynn had arrived at the State Courts building without wearing a mask, security guards at the entrance of the building stopped him and instructed him to put on his mask. 

Glynn was seen taking his mask out from the pocket of his bermuda pants and putting it over his nose. However, when he was asked to check in using his TraceTogether mobile application or token, he gestured that he did not have any of that.

A security officer later told TODAY that Glynn was only allowed in after the man, whom Glynn had referred to as a legal counsel, did a joint check-in for him on his app.

Glynn had appeared in a viral video without wearing a mask while on the MRT network's East-West Line earlier in May. In the video that lasted almost two minutes, the man can be heard telling another train commuter about why he did not want to wear a mask.

The Daily Mail had since interviewed Glynn, who was identified as a father of two children aged five and two.

The British news site quoted Glynn as saying: "This whole situation is ridiculous. I want to leave the country anyway — just let me go! I think it's insane that I am facing a trial at all, just for not wearing a mask... especially when I don't even believe masks stop the spread of the virus in the first place... From a scientific basis, I think it's nonsense."

If found guilty of the offence of being a public nuisance, Glynn may be jailed for up to three months or fined up to S$2,000, or both.

For contravening the Covid-19 (Temporary Measures) (Control Order) Regulations 2020 by not wearing a mask, he may be jailed for up to six months or fined up to S$10,000, or both.

And for using threatening words towards a public servant in relation to the execution of their duty, he is liable to a fine of up to S$5,000 or jail time of up to 12 months, or both.