Singapore says Canadian bank robber will not be caned thanks to agreement with Britain

David James Roach robbed a branch of Standard Chartered bank for more than $30,000

A representational image of Singapore. A general view shows the Singapore Flyer observation wheel (L) and the Marina Bay Sands hotel (R) in Singapore on 16 July 2021 (AFP via Getty Images)

Singapore on Sunday said that a Canadian man sentenced for robbing a bank will not be caned as a result of the country’s extradition rules with Britain.

David James Roach, 31, had stolen S$30,450 (£16,000) from a branch of the Standard Chartered bank on 7 July 2016. He then fled to Thailand on the day of the robbery, reportedThe Straits Times.

He was subsequently deported from Thailand to Canada, after which the British police detained him on his arrival at London in January 2018, at the behest of authorities in Singapore, who sought help from their British counterparts to extradite him.

Singapore assured the British government – while the extradition process for Roach was taking place – that he would not face any corporal punishment in case of being found guilty of the offences he was then accused of.

The Canadian national was subsequently extradited from Britain and arrived in Singapore in March earlier this year. Facing charges of robbery and money laundering, he was sentenced to jail for five years and six strokes of the cane.

But on 25 July, Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said the sentence of caning was remitted on Saturday “because the UK’s extradition laws prohibited the extradition of Roach without such an assurance”.

It said that had Singapore not provided this assurance to Britain, the extradition would not have taken place.

The MHA said Singapore’s president Halimah Yacob exercised powers under Singapore’s constitution to remit the sentence, according to several reports.

“The Singapore government has thus fulfilled the assurance given to the United Kingdom government. No alternative punishment will be imposed on Roach in lieu of the remitted sentence of caning,” the ministry said.

The ministry said “extraditing Roach to Singapore to face justice for his crimes” was their top priority.

“The Singapore government will do whatever is necessary and permissible within our legal framework to seek justice against those who commit crimes in Singapore, regardless of nationality and where they may have fled to,” the ministry said.

Roach had stolen the money by slipping a piece of paper to a bank teller saying that he was carrying out a robbery and had a gun. Singapore is renowned for its regimen of tough punishments for a range of crimes, something government officials claim accounts for low rates of criminal activity in the island nation.