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Jail for foreign student who trespassed on S’pore Grand Prix premises, entered pit lane area
- Swedish national Alkallas Karam trespassed the premises of the Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix after a volunteer helped him enter without a ticket.
- Alkallas was arrested on Oct 5.
- On Dec 1, he was sentenced to four weeks' jail for criminal trespass.
The 17-year-old volunteer helped Swedish national Alkallas Karam sneak into the area out of pity, only for the latter to tamper with a lock soon after and enter the exclusive Paddock Club.
Alkallas, 23, then entered the pit lane area – a highly restricted operational zone where F1 vehicles, drivers and crew are situated during the race – but was caught soon after.
On Dec 1, he was sentenced to four weeks’ jail after he pleaded guilty to two counts of criminal trespass.
Details about the male volunteer, identified in court documents as B1, cannot be disclosed as individuals below 18 years old are protected under the Children and Young Persons Act.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Adelle Tai told the court that on Oct 3, Alkallas asked his friends about the tickets for the annual event, and felt they were too expensive.
Despite this, he decided to go to the event the following day and try to unlawfully sneak into the venue.
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At around 7pm on Oct 4, he went to Gate 1 of the Circuit Park area and met B1, who had been tasked to scan the tickets of people entering the event.DPP Tai said: “B1 then asked the accused if he had a ticket to enter, to which the accused replied that it was with his friend. B1 instructed the accused to wait at the side, and their conversation ended. However, the accused continued to remain in the area.
“Approximately 30 minutes later, the accused approached B1 again and explained that the ticket was with his friend, but that his friend was not present. B1 again told the accused that he could not allow entry and asked him to wait at the side.”
Undeterred, Alkallas began pestering B1, who felt sympathy for the offender and agreed to help him sneak into the premises.
Alkallas joined a queue and presented his mobile phone displaying a blank screen when B1 approached him.
The teenager then pretended to scan the device to make it appear as though Alkallas had a valid ticket with him.
Alkallas entered the F1 area and went to a service road behind the Paddock Club, located at the Marina Bay Street Circuit Pit Building. This was a restricted area housing F1 drivers and guests, including an unnamed minister who had attended the event that day.
Court documents stated that the Paddock Club was a separate high-security zone, where entry required a VIP pass and there were security checks at several entry points.
At around 8.40pm, Alkallas walked along the service road and spotted a bicycle chain securing one of the gates leading to the club’s rear entrance.
This area was unmanned and led to a tyre storage area.
The prosecutor told the court: “The accused rotated the lock towards himself to attempt to guess the code. When the accused was unsuccessful, he then used his mobile phone to search ‘how to pick bike lock number’.
“Using the information obtained from this search, he determined the passcode of the bicycle lock and gained unauthorised entry to the Paddock Club.”
Upon entering, Alkallas closed the lock behind him and randomly rotated the numbers on the lock.
He then roamed around the ground floor area where F1 drivers and their guests were present.
He video-called his sister, and both siblings were observed to be laughing when an F1 driver walked by.
After using a toilet, Alkallas went past an auxiliary police officer and walked through a door into the pit lane area, even though he was not authorised to do so.
Alkallas snapped two photographs of the area before the officer came forward and asked to see the intruder’s access pass.
The offender then lied to the officer, claiming that he managed to enter the Paddock Club as the gate was unlocked and that he saw the padlock to it hanging by the side.
The officer escorted him to the gate to the Paddock Club and both observed that it was locked.
In response, Alkallas claimed that this was because he had locked the gate for “security reasons” after entering the club.
He had also persistently denied tampering with the bicycle lock until the authorities confronted him with his browser history, said the DPP.
As a result of his initial false claims that the gate was unlocked, uniformed officers deployed to the high-security sector had to check the perimeter to verify his claims.
Among other things, the Security Command team had to recall officers from home between 12.30am and 2am to carry out a bomb sweep of the premises.
Event organiser Singapore GP also suffered disruptions because of Alkallas’ actions.
According to court documents, service delivery, including restocking, cleaning and re-supplying food and beverage operations, faced disruptions owing to the bomb sweep as staff had to clear the area.
Staff had to be activated during their rest time to open and unlock areas for the sweep.
Some items and freight cargo packages that were already pre-packed also had to be opened for the sweep, added the DPP.
Alkallas was arrested on Oct 5.
