An American commercial pilot was sentenced to four weeks of jail on Wednesday for breaching stay-home order in early April. Brian Dugan Yeargan, 44, who arrived in Singapore from Australia on April 3, pleaded guilty to the offence under the Infectious Disease Regulations Act 2020.
Dugan was issued 30-day short term visiting pass with stay-home order for 14 days when he reached Singapore. He was not allowed to go in public until April 17 from his hotel room at Crown Plaza Changi Airport. Ignoring the order, he left the hotel and took a train to City Hall station.
The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority said, he went to buy some personal items at Chinatown Point shopping center spending three hours outside his room. Violators convicted for such offence could be jailed for up to six months and fined up to $10,000, or both.
Similar cases
In a similar case, three men were charged in court on April 17 for violating orders requiring them to stay home amid coronavirus outbreak. Indian National Vardireddy Nageswara Reddy, 35 and Chinese national Liu Dufeng, 49, were accused for leaving their place of isolation. While Singaporean Foo Ching Guan, 32 also left his home after being served stay-home notice (SHN).
Foo was supposed to stay at his home until March 31 as he was served SHN after arriving from Thailand on March 17. He allegedly left his home on March 29 to meet a friend in Sengkang Central. He pleaded guilty and presented in the court on April 23.
Under the Infectious Diseases Act 2020, Lui faced two charges for breaching isolating order issued him from Feb 12 to 24 by Director of Medical Services. Ministry of Health said in a statement that Lui had to relocate under the instructions of his employer though he was not supposed go out during the quarantine period. He had reportedly left his residence on February 21 to look for a bank in MacPherson Road.
Vardireddy, who was supposed to be isolated from Feb 16 to 25, committed a similar offence on Feb 24. He left his home to purchase some items from a shopping mall without the permission of Director of Medical Services. He pleaded guilty and was again presented in court on April 23.
