Swiss man admits vandalism, faces caning

A Swiss expatriate pleaded guilty on Friday to vandalism and trespass for spray-painting a Singapore metro train in a daring stunt for which he is expected to be caned and jailed.

Oliver Fricker, 32, is to be sentenced later for the two crimes, which alarmed Singapore officials because he and a British friend were able to break into a subway system believed to be a potential terrorist target.

Singapore has launched an international hunt for the 29-year-old Briton, Lloyd Dane Alexander, who allegedly planned the act but left the city-state before he could be caught, leaving Fricker to face the consequences alone.

"The accused pleads guilty," a prosecutor told the court Friday following a pre-trial conference with the defence earlier in the week.

Prosecutors said the pair spray-painted the words "McKoy" and "Banos" on two carriages in the early hours of May 17 -- the signature of train vandals whose elaborate works are celebrated in YouTube videos and websites.

Fricker was about to return to Switzerland when he was arrested on May 25, and his employer, Zurich-based Comit AG, which specialises in software for the financial industry, confirmed he had been suspended from work.

Damning evidence, including emails ordering paint, photographs and a wire cutter used to cut through the fence of a train depot, left Fricker with little choice but to plead guilty in the hope of getting a more lenient sentence.

The prosecution said his laptop computer contained 53 images and one video file of vandalised trains.

Prosecutors said Fricker and Alexander became friends after meeting in Australia in 1997 and the vandalism took place when Alexander visited Singapore as a tourist.

Vandalism is punishable by up to three years in jail or a maximum fine of 2,000 Singapore dollars (1,440 US dollars), plus three to eight strokes of a wooden cane, a punishment dating from British colonial rule.

For trespassing into a protected area, Fricker faces two years in jail or a fine of 1,000 dollars, or both.

Singapore, a close US ally in a predominantly Muslim region, considers the intrusion a serious offence because its MRT subway system is believed to be the target of Islamic extremists.