A British Court has ruled that Canadian David Roach could be extradited to Singapore, after Singapore had agreed to waive corporal punishment if he is found guilty.
In July 2016, Roach strolled into a Standard Chartered bank branch at Holland Village, where he handed the teller a scrap of paper and walked off with the cash.
Roach had then fled to Bangkok, where he was arrested in a hostel and jailed for 14 months in Jun 2017 after failing to declare the large sum of money that he was carrying.
Singapore had repeatedly asked Thai authorities to send Roach to Singapore to face charges but this was not successful as the two countries did not have an extradition treaty.
The Thai authorities decided to deport him to Canada via London after his sentence was served.
While transiting at London’s Heathrow Airport, officers from the Metropolitan Police Extradition Unit arrested him following a request from Singapore.
Roach’s lawyer had appealed against the extradition.
According to court documents seen by Reuters, he cited the prison conditions in Singapore and concerns that Singapore would not keep its promise to cane him as reasons on why he should not be extradited.
“All challenges fail” said district judge N Tempia of the Westminster magistrates’ court.
Now that the court has given its approval, the case has been sent the case to the UK’s Secretary of State for his decision on whether Roach is to be extradited to Singapore.
A decision is expected to be made within 2 months.
