Singapore Brit Gets 2 Years For Possession

Nigel Bruce Simmonds, 35, the bureau chief for Tatler and editor of Singapore Tatler, was jailed this week, after admitting taking and possessing 0.8 grams of amphetamines in Singapore.

The high society journalist could have got ten years under Singapore's notoriously harsh drug laws, though got two years after his lawyers insisted he was "not a party-goer, rather a secretive ice addict'. (South China Post).

"Our client was in a position of international repute and fame, being a magazine editor of some note," his lawyers added in their mitigation plea. "The shock and shame of even a short term of imprisonment would be devastating to his standing in society and his prospect of future employment."

Singapore authorities also banned a local company Jungle Media from staging a Christmas party Snowball.04 this week, after cops decided "most of the revellers at the previous event seemed to be homosexuals' (Channel News Asia).

"Patrons of the same gender were seen openly kissing and intimately touching each other," a police statement explaining the ban said. "Patrons were also seen using the toilets of the opposite sex."

"The police cannot approve any application for an event which goes against the moral values of a large majority of Singaporeans," the statement said.

Gay sex remains "an act of gross indecency' in Singapore, with those convicted facing two years in jail.
Tags

• singapore