A 19-year-old French student has been fined S$600 ($465) by a Singapore court after admitting to a public nuisance charge for licking a vending machine straw and sharing the video online.
Didier Gaspard Owen Maximilien, a business student at ESSEC Business School in Singapore, carried out the act on March 12 at an iJooz orange juice machine in Goldhill Centre.
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He recorded himself licking about half of a straw from the dispenser after a workout, then replaced it before collecting his own drink and retrieving the contaminated straw for personal use.
The video went viral after someone in Maximilien's contact circle screen-recorded it and shared it with media outlets.
Following public backlash, iJooz filed a police report, sanitized the machine, and replaced all 500 straws at a cost of S$5.
Court Ruling and Sentencing
Maximilien pleaded guilty on July 30, 2026, to one count of public nuisance. A second charge of mischief was taken into consideration during sentencing.
The prosecution recommended a fine rather than imprisonment or community service, citing his youth, early guilty plea, and the lack of physical harm to the public.
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Defence lawyer Kalidass Murugaiyan argued that community-based sentencing was impractical because Maximilien has no family support in Singapore and is scheduled to study in France from September to December.
He added that the student's family in France has counselled him and intends to ensure he pays the fine personally.
District Judge Kelly Ho ruled that a fine was appropriate given the circumstances and practical difficulties of alternative sentences.
Immigration authorities will separately decide whether Maximilien can retain his student pass.
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"He is truly sorry for having caused all this trouble and he realises that what appeared to him at that time as something perhaps playful has turned out to be something very consequential," Murugaiyan said.
