Teen who licked iJooz straw in viral video fined $600
The French teen who filmed himself licking a straw from an orange juice vending machine was given a fine of $600 on July 30.
Didier Gaspard Owen Maximilien, 19, pleaded guilty to one count of being a public nuisance.
The court heard that he attended a boxing class at Goldhill Centre in Thomson Road on March 12.
After the session, at about 2pm, he approached the iJooz vending machine to purchase a drink.
He decided to record an Instagram story of himself licking a straw from the vending machine. He took one straw from the dispenser, licked half of it, and placed it back in the straw dispenser.
After concluding the recording, he collected his drink, took the same straw from the dispenser and left the premises. He also edited the footage and uploaded it to his Instagram account.
Court documents stated that iJooz, known for its vending machines that serve freshly squeezed orange juice, had to replace all 500 straws in the dispenser after the incident.
An assistant operations manager at the company that operates the vending machines made a police report on March 25 after seeing the video go viral online.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Maximilian Chew sought a fine, leaving the amount to be determined by the court. At a previous hearing on July 13, the possibility of probation was brought up, but Chew on July 30 said a fine would be more appropriate, given that the teen would be in France for his studies from September to December.
The prosecutor added that a short detention order was not warranted, given that the custodial threshold had not been crossed.
Chew also said the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) would decide on the status of Maximilien’s student pass after the court proceedings have concluded.
“(The prosecution’s) sentencing position is independent of the outcome of the accused’s student pass,” he said.
ICA said on July 30 that as the review of Maximilien’s student pass is ongoing, it is unable to provide further details.
“Foreigners who commit offences or engage in undesirable conduct may have their immigration passes reviewed, cancelled, or revoked, depending on the circumstances of the case,” it added.
The issue of the teen’s student pass status came up at a previous hearing, as the prosecution had sought an adjournment because it was awaiting ICA’s reply on whether his student pass would be cancelled.
Maximilien’s lawyer, Kalidass Murugaiyan, agreed that a fine was suitable, explaining that it would be logistically difficult for the teen to be placed on probation as his father is working in France.
Murugaiyan said the contaminated straw was not used by anyone and that the teen shared the video on Instagram, which was screen-recorded by someone in his circle of Instagram followers and distributed to media outlets, causing it to go viral.
Said the defence lawyer: “He is truly sorry for having caused all this trouble, and he realises that what appeared to him at that time as something perhaps playful has turned out to be something very consequential.”
The lawyer said Maximilien’s family has also counselled him on the importance of taking responsibility for his actions.
In sentencing, District Judge Kelly Ho said probation or other community-based sentences would be the port of call, given Maximilien’s age and the circumstances of the offence.
However, given the logistical difficulties, she said a fine was suitable and agreed with the amount proposed by the defence.
For being a public nuisance, an offender can be jailed for up to three months, fined up to $2,000, or both.
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