FedEx pilot jailed for breaching Stay-Home Notice to buy masks, thermometer
SINGAPORE — A 44-year-old pilot with Federal Express (FedEx) breached his Stay-Home Notice (SHN) to buy face masks and a thermometer from a shopping mall in Chinatown, a court heard.
At the State Courts on Wednesday (13 May), American Brian Dugan Yeargan was jailed for four weeks after he pleaded guilty to his single charge under the Infectious Diseases (Covid-19 – Stay Orders) Regulations 2020.
Prior to his arrival in Singapore on 2 April, Yeargan submitted an online health declaration form to the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA). He declared that he had been to China, Hong Kong, Macau, Japan and the US in the last 14 day period. Yeargan acknowledged that he would be issued with a 14-day SHN to be served at Crowne Plaza Changi Airport and a PDF copy of his SHN was e-mailed to him.
Just after 3am on 3 April, Yeargan and two other commercial pilots were escorted by a Singapore Airport Terminal Services (SATS) staff to an immigration counter. An immigration officer briefed Yeargan on the requirements of his SHN and ordered that he not leave his hotel room from 3 April until 17 April.
The SATS staff then escorted the three pilots to the hotel. The staff also reminded them about the requirements of the SHN and told them not to leave their hotel rooms at any time during the period.
But just two days later, Yeargan left his room at about 11.15am. He walked to Changi Airport MRT station and took a train to City Hall MRT station before walking to Chinatown Point. There, he visited four shops, buying a thermometer from one and a few boxes of face masks from the other three.
Coincidentally, an ICA officer conducting a spot check at Yeargan’s hotel found him missing from his room. Yeargan was walking to an MRT station to take a train back to the hotel at about 1.40pm when he received a phone call from his FedEx office notifying him that he was not supposed to have left his hotel room and that he had to return back immediately. The culprit took a cab and got back at about 2.15pm.
In asking for a deterrent sentence, Deputy Public Prosecutor V Jesudevan said, “The accused’s case is regrettably not an isolated one. As of 10 May 2020, more than 148 investigations into breaches of SOs (Stay Orders) or SHNs have been initiated.
“Unless there is an immediate change in attitude and behaviour by certain members of the public about the seriousness of compliance with the law, the number of breaches, and potentially the number of COVID-19 cases in Singapore, will rise,” the prosecutor said.
Added DPP Jesudevan, “It is necessary for the court to send a clear message to the public that breaches of SOs or SHNs will not be tolerated, and that severe punishments will be meted out. Such a message is urgently needed to deter irresponsible persons who are prepared to place the public’s health at risk for their personal interests.”
In mitigation, Yeargan’s lawyer Ronnie Tan said his client was motivated to get personal protective equipment for his wife back home in the US, where such products were running scarce.
For breaching COVID-19 regulations, Yeargan could have been fined up to $10,000 and jailed up to six months.
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