Wednesday 16 November 2022 04:53 AM Bacchus Marsh Grammar girls accused of shoplifting in Singapore could face 3 ... trends now
A group of Australian private schoolgirls accused of stealing lingerie from a Victoria's Secret store in Singapore could be forced to beg for mercy from the retailer - in a nation where foreign teenagers have been caned for petty crimes in the past.
CCTV cameras allegedly caught the group of five Year 10 girls from Victoria's elite Bacchus Marsh Grammar stashing away expensive underwear before leaving the store without paying on Sunday.
Police arrested the girls while they were still in the city's upmarket Mandarin Gallery shopping mall and brought them back to the store.
Now, legal experts have told Daily Mail Australia that the girls face a frightening and uncertain fate, including up to three years' imprisonment under Section 379 of the Penal Code 1871 of Singapore.
The girls must co-operate with police and show that they are 'sorry', the experts advised, and may even have to apologise and ask the store owner for mercy.
They will also have to hope their age and the fact that they are juveniles plays in their favour.
However, Singapore is notoriously tough on foreigners committing crimes in the country and has in the past gone as far as caning an American teenager for vandalism.
Meanwhile, a Swiss teen was caned and imprisoned for seven months in 2010 for spraying graffiti on a train.
A group of Australian private schoolgirls allegedly shoplifted saucy lingerie in a Victoria's Secret shop in Singapore (pictured, Brazilian model Lais Ribeiro wearing the chain's expensive underwear at a New York fashion show)
Staff at the Singapore Victoria's Secret store alerted police to the group of five Year 10 girls from Victoria's Bacchus Marsh Grammar
Professor Jianlin Chen, a professor at Melbourne Law School who is qualified to practice in Singapore, told Daily Mail Australia that several punishments are possible, even if prison is taken off the table.
'Singapore do take a tough stance on foreign criminals, especially if they are organized and travelling to Singapore with the primary intent to commit crimes,' he said.
'Insofar as this is not the case here - and obviously there is nothing to suggest it is - then factors such as the young age, the relatively low monetary value of the objects taken, cooperation with police will come into play.
'Stern warning, probation and community service and other non-custodial punishment are all real possibilities, regardless of whether the person is foreigner or local.
'I also add that caning is not an available punishment for females under Singapore law.'
Donald Rothwell, a professor of International Law at the Australian National University, also warned that Singapore takes a 'tough on crime approach'.
'Singapore does take a tough on crime approach and there are no exceptions for foreigners.
'See some of these previous stories on strict Singapore laws being applied to foreigners, one involving the Clinton Administration gained a lot of attention.
'If the reports are true, then shoplifting is a crime against the shop owner and has a private dimension to it.
