SINGAPORE: A teenager who trespassed onto the train tracks between Simei MRT station and Tanah Merah MRT station earlier this year had climbed up scaffolding structures to access the prohibited area.
The teen, who cannot be named as his identity is protected under the Children and Young Persons Act, loitered at the train tracks for up to 10 minutes and later uploaded a video of a passing train on social media.
The youth, now aged 17, pleaded guilty on Tuesday (Nov 25) to one count under the Rapid Transit Systems Act of wilfully endangering safety, and one count of trespass.
Another count of trespass and one count of obstructing justice will be taken into account for sentencing. The latter charge detailed how the youth had deleted his Instagram account and instructed his friends to lie on Instagram that his video was likely generated by artificial intelligence.
Deputy Principal District Judge Kessler Soh adjourned the case after calling for probation and reformative training suitability reports for the teen.
TRESPASSED ONTO TRAIN TRACKS WHILE IT WAS OPERATIONAL
In January this year, the youth, then aged 16, noticed two scaffolding structures leading to the train tracks along Upper Changi Road. He then devised a plan to explore the tracks.
On Mar 27, 2025, at about 8pm after his school ended, he decided to carry out his plan. He waited for workers to leave the scaffolding area before wearing his shirt around his face to hide his identity.
He went through a gap in a fence around the area and moved towards the structure while remaining low to avoid detection, checking for closed-circuit television cameras along the way.
At the scaffolding gate, the teen lay down and squeezed through the gap between the gate and the ground before climbing the staircase. He ducked down when he saw people along the footpath. As a train passed, he ran up the stairs, using the noise from the train to mask the sound of his footsteps.
He reached the tracks along the East-West Line MRT at about 8.18pm, and walked along them.
“When he heard an approaching train, he lay down beside the train track to avoid detection and recorded a video of the passing train with his phone,” said Deputy Public Prosecutor Xu Sijia. He then crossed the track while still recording, and continued to take photos and another video.
He remained there for about five to 10 minutes, seeing four to six trains pass before leaving the prohibited area through the same scaffolding.
“The accused knew that he entered and crossed the train tracks during the operational hours of the MRT and wilfully endangered the safety of persons travelling along the train tracks,” Ms Xu said.
After he left the area, the teen uploaded a video of the incident onto his Instagram account, making it viewable only by those in his “close friends” list.
On Jun 9, he uploaded a video onto his second Instagram account. When the video became increasingly viral, he decided to delete the second Instagram account to avoid being identified.
An SMRT staff member called the police on Jun 10 after seeing the video.
CLIMBED HDB ROOF, HID UNDER SLEEPING WOMAN’S BED
In a separate incident a couple of months later, the teen also scaled a roof of a housing block.
On May, 16, 2025, at about 11pm, he was in his unit when he felt the urge to climb before showering. Dressed only in his underwear and shoes, he left his unit with his phone and took the lift to the 14th floor.
He climbed the stairs up two levels then headed to the end of a corridor, where he tried to scale up onto the rooftop of the block.
A 25-year-old man who resided in the block heard noises and saw the teen leaning on the parapet ledge.
Feeling scared, the resident called the police.
Meanwhile, the teen saw this resident and waited for him to leave before climbing onto the rooftop. He stepped onto the parapet ledge and used the grooves on the wall and fence to aid him.
The teen then sat on the roof, listened to music and made video calls.
After the police arrived, the teen heard officers shouting, and he walked to the opposite end of the roof and used ledges and laundry racks to climb down the block. It was past midnight by then.
As he did so, he noticed bystanders and police officers looking for him on the ground floor.
In an attempt to escape, he entered a unit where an 86-year-old woman lived, through an open window. He tried to open the windows near the door of her unit but heard police officers approaching.
Instead of fleeing, he decided to hide under the woman’s bed. The woman, who lay asleep on the bed at that time, did not notice him.
About half an hour later, the teen decided to surrender to the police. He found the key to the woman’s unit on her bed, opened her front door and surrendered himself.
“The (woman) was subsequently woken up by the police and alerted to the incident,” Ms Xu said.
The potential harm in this case was “significant” as the teen had stepped onto a rail which provided electric power to the trains, and crossed the train tracks during its operational hours, she added.
His acts endangered the safety of the commuters travelling on the trains, himself and could have disrupted train operations, she said.
Ms Xu pointed out that the accused planned the intrusion for two months and took deliberate steps to remain hidden.
The teen’s lawyer Kalaithasan Karuppaya pleaded for leniency given his client’s early plea of guilt, adding that it was his client’s first time offending.
The case will return to court on Dec 2, with sentencing fixed for Jan 6 next year.
For wilfully endangering safety under the Rapid Transit Systems Act, a person could be jailed for up to five years, or fined up to S$10,000 (US$7,670), or both.
For trespass, a person could be jailed for up to three months, or fined up to S$1,500, or both.
