UK orders extradition of StanChart bank robbery suspect to Singapore
The United Kingdom’s Secretary of State has ordered that David James Roach, the suspect in the 2016 Standard Chartered Bank (StanChart) branch robbery, be extradited to Singapore.
“Roach has until 8 November 2018 to apply to the UK High Court for permission to appeal against this decision,” said a joint press release by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) on Tuesday (30 October).
The Singapore authorities are working closely with the UK authorities on the next steps in this matter, the release said.
Detained since January
The 28-year-old Canadian was detained by the UK authorities at Singapore’s request in January this year.
Within a month, the MHA announced that the Singapore government had acceded to the UK’s request that Roach not be caned should he be convicted of robbery here.
“As part of the extradition proceedings, the UK Government has requested an assurance that if Roach were to be found guilty by a Singapore Court of robbery, the sentence of corporal punishment will not be carried out,” said the MHA in a press release on 20 February.
Robbery recap
On 7 July 2016, Roach made off with $30,000 from the StanChart bank branch at Holland Village. No weapon was used in the robbery, only a note that Roach handed over to a bank teller.
He subsequently fled to Bangkok, where he was detained three days later. With no extradition treaty between Singapore and Thailand, the authorities there rejected requests for Roach to be sent back here.
Roach was deported from Thailand on 11 January this year after serving a 14-month jail term for failing to declare having a large amount of money when entering the country. He was detained by local authorities upon arriving in the UK.
Related stories:
StanChart robbery suspect: Either we let him go free or face trial – Shanmugam
StanChart robbery suspect will not be caned if found guilty by Singapore court: MHA
Canadian suspect in Singapore bank robbery faces UK court on extradition
Robbery at Standard Chartered Bank’s Holland Village branch
Authorities working to bring StanChart robbery suspect back to Singapore
