Story perspectives

French Student Charged Over Vending Machine Contamination, 500 Straws Replaced

4/29/2026

Summary

Story summary

IJOOZ replaced 500 straws in the vending machine after the teenager’s alleged contamination.
Didier Gaspard Owen Maximilien, an 18-year-old French student, was charged in Singapore with public nuisance and mischief, with a May 22 court date and 5,000 Singapore-dollar bail.
The charges allow up to two years’ jail and fines of up to 2,000 Singapore dollars, while ESSEC Business School’s Singapore campus says it is supporting him and contacting his family.

History

Historical Context

The Vandalism Act, introduced on 16 September 1966, imposed up to three years’ jail, fines up to S$2,000 and mandatory caning for indelible graffiti. The high-profile 1994 Michael Fay case, where an American teen received four strokes of the cane for spray-painting cars, cemented Singapore’s zero-tolerance reputation. That precedent underpins today’s charge against French student Didier Gaspard Owen Maximilien for contaminating a campus vending machine.

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Story summary

IJOOZ replaced 500 straws in the vending machine after the teenager’s alleged contamination.
Didier Gaspard Owen Maximilien, an 18-year-old French student, was charged in Singapore with public nuisance and mischief, with a May 22 court date and 5,000 Singapore-dollar bail.
The charges allow up to two years’ jail and fines of up to 2,000 Singapore dollars, while ESSEC Business School’s Singapore campus says it is supporting him and contacting his family.

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