A man who trespassed into a church and defaced a statue of Mother Mary has been given a stern warning, with the prosecution withdrawing all charges against him. Race Koh Jun Xian, 38, was given a discharge amounting to an acquittal on Mon for a charge of criminal trespass and another of defiling a place of worship with intent to insult a religion. He had climbed over the fence and entered the courtyard of Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary along Upper Serangoon Road on Nov 2, Nov 5 and Nov 12 last year. On Tues, SPF said it administered a stern warning to Koh for the two offences, after consulting with AGC. Koh was also warned for committing criminal trespass for the other two occasions. “The man claimed that he had wanted to pray to the statue and intended to beautify it out of gratitude. Police investigations revealed the man did not think that he would be defiling the statue. No permanent damage was done to the statue by the man’s act,” it added.... Continue Reading