A teenager who was interested in making explosives started learning about them on YouTube during the COVID-19 “circuit breaker” & detonated some of them at East Coast Park and posted video clips on his Instagram account, which led to someone filing a police report.
The teen made two improvised pipe bombs and lit them up at East Coast Park in 2020 and posted video clips on his Instagram account, media reported.
No one was injured by his actions.
The youth who cannot be named as he was under 18 at the time of the offences and therefore protected by the Children and Young Persons Act, pleaded guilty to:
- Two charges of manufacturing explosives without a licence
- One charge of exhibiting a rash act in relation to a dangerous or harmful substance
- One charge of abetting a rash act in relation to a dangerous or harmful substance
Three other similar charges will be taken into consideration for sentencing on June 30.
According to reports from Today, the youth then began researching how to make explosives on the internet and watched videos on YouTube. He decided to construct improvised pipe bombs, having earlier made what was described in court as “sparkler bombs”.
According to CNA, He is currently an aerospace engineering student in a polytechnic, and has received treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and conduct disorder.
WHAT HAPPENED DURING CIRCUIT BREAKER
In May 2020, Singapore was under partial lockdown due to Covid 19.
The teen then began researching how to make explosives in April 2019 on the internet and watched videos on YouTube.
EAST COAST PARK
On June 7, 2020, he met two friends at East Coast Park where they planned to find a quiet spot to detonate the bombs. He rode his electric scooter there and the trio went to the vicinity of Skate Park along East Coast Parkway, media reported.
Between 8pm and 11pm, the youth detonated several of the sparkler bombs and pipe bombs.
The teen placed them on a grass patch, lit their fuses and ran away before the bombs exploded. He recorded the whole thing in presence of his friends & posted on Instagram.
POSTED ON INSTAGRAM
One of the pipe bombs during the outing had not exploded, so he took it home and discarded it down the rubbish chute of the housing block where he lived.
Then he posted the video clip on his Instagram account.
Earlier in April 2019, he detonated two improvised sparkler bombs while at a beach area along East Coast Parkway. He placed one on a raised platform and told his friend to light it up and throw it towards the sea, which his friend did.
The youth recorded the explosion and posted another video on his Instagram account. The clip showed the device emitting a series of flashes and an explosion could be heard.
On June 19, 2020, a man made a police report, providing information about the incriminating Instagram account.
After the police report was made Singapore Police raided his flat at 1 am the next day and seized multiple items related to the preparation of “the homemade bombs”.
The police seized another pipe bomb that the teen had planned to detonate next month.
Singapore Armed Forces’ (SAF) explosives ordnance disposal engineers later disposed of it in a safe manner, according to the reports.
IN COURT :
The youth who was not represented by a lawyer told the court last Friday that he was “remorseful” and just wanted to focus on his studies for the time being.
“I like to do hands-on stuff, that’s why I did (what I did), but there is a right way and wrong to do it. That’s why I like engineering.”
The teen was pursuing aerospace engineering at a polytechnic.
District Judge Soh warned him that his actions were “something very dangerous” and that he and his friends could have been badly injured.
The judge added: “Thankfully, no injury was caused to anyone but I hope you realise by now that you should not be doing such things. You might like to tinker with things and experiment, but there is a right way to do it, as you said.”
The judge did not call for a suitability report for reformative training for now, but said that he would do so if it was necessary.
District Judge Kessler Soh called for a report to assess if the youth is suitable for probation, given his young age and lack of past criminal history. He had been treated for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in the years leading up to his offences in 2019 and 2020, the court heard. He was a student at the Institute of Technical Education at the time, Today reports.
Reformative training is a regimented rehabilitation programme for offenders under 21 who commit relatively serious crimes.
Probation, a less severe punishment, is usually offered to first-time offenders aged between 16 and 21 and does not result in a criminal record. Probation also allows young offenders to continue with their education or employment while serving their sentences.
The penalty for making explosives without a licence is up to three years’ jail and a fine of up to S$10,000.
Those who commit a rash act with a dangerous substance or combustible matter likely to cause hurt or injury to another person, or abet such an act, can be jailed for up to one year, fined up to S$5,000 or both.
Images for illustration only
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