British businessman faces lashing for 'pinching woman's buttocks' while on holiday in Singapore | Mail Online
This should bring a smile to a few faces on here
British businessman faces lashing for 'pinching woman's buttocks' while on holiday in Singapore
By ANDY WHELAN
Bailed: Briton Austin Cowburn
A British businessman on holiday in Singapore faces being lashed with a cane after being accused of squeezing a woman’s bottom in a nightclub.
Austin Cowburn, a recruitment consultant, is alleged to have pinched the woman’s buttocks while partying in the upmarket Boat Quay area at 4am.
It is understood he was visiting the island from Doha, Qatar, where he worked as a senior executive for international recruitment company NES Global.
According to local reports, Mr Cowburn, 34, was charged on Friday with outraging the modesty of the woman at the China One club on April 3.
At the hearing, a judge set his bail at £4,900 and he is now staying in a backpacker hostel in the Chinatown area of the island, having surrendered his passport to police.
He is due to appear for a pre-trial hearing on Wednesday and, if convicted, could be jailed for two years, fined up to £6,000 or be sentenced to a lashing with a 4ft rattan cane.
Mr Cowburn, who attended Bury Grammar School, is believed to have moved from Manchester to Doha around two years ago.
Singapore's Boat Quay is popular with partygoers
Under Singapore’s strict laws – little altered since the days of British colonial rule – caning is widely used to punish criminals.
The state is often criticised for its severe punishments.
Selling or importing chewing gum is punishable with a fine of up to £6,000, littering or spitting can result in a fine of up to £6,000, and there is a mandatory death penalty for murder and certain drug trafficking and firearms offences.
Read more: British businessman faces lashing for 'pinching woman's buttocks' while on holiday in Singapore | Mail Online
This should bring a smile to a few faces on here
British businessman faces lashing for 'pinching woman's buttocks' while on holiday in Singapore
By ANDY WHELAN
Bailed: Briton Austin Cowburn
A British businessman on holiday in Singapore faces being lashed with a cane after being accused of squeezing a woman’s bottom in a nightclub.
Austin Cowburn, a recruitment consultant, is alleged to have pinched the woman’s buttocks while partying in the upmarket Boat Quay area at 4am.
It is understood he was visiting the island from Doha, Qatar, where he worked as a senior executive for international recruitment company NES Global.
According to local reports, Mr Cowburn, 34, was charged on Friday with outraging the modesty of the woman at the China One club on April 3.
At the hearing, a judge set his bail at £4,900 and he is now staying in a backpacker hostel in the Chinatown area of the island, having surrendered his passport to police.
He is due to appear for a pre-trial hearing on Wednesday and, if convicted, could be jailed for two years, fined up to £6,000 or be sentenced to a lashing with a 4ft rattan cane.
Mr Cowburn, who attended Bury Grammar School, is believed to have moved from Manchester to Doha around two years ago.
Singapore's Boat Quay is popular with partygoers
Under Singapore’s strict laws – little altered since the days of British colonial rule – caning is widely used to punish criminals.
The state is often criticised for its severe punishments.
Selling or importing chewing gum is punishable with a fine of up to £6,000, littering or spitting can result in a fine of up to £6,000, and there is a mandatory death penalty for murder and certain drug trafficking and firearms offences.
Read more: British businessman faces lashing for 'pinching woman's buttocks' while on holiday in Singapore | Mail Online
Comment