LONDON: A Canadian man suspected of a rare bank robbery in Singapore told a court in London on Thursday (Feb 15) that he is contesting his extradition from Britain to Singapore.

David Roach, 28, was arrested by British police on Jan 11 after a request for his detention was made by Singapore.



Roach allegedly stole S$30,000 from a Standard Chartered bank branch in Holland Village in July 2016, before fleeing to Thailand where he was jailed for 14 months for failing to declare such a large amount of money when he arrived.

Singapore had asked Thai authorities to repatriate Roach but they decided to deport him to Canada instead.

Roach was en route to Canada when he was detained at London's Heathrow Airport by officers from the Metropolitan Police Extradition Unit.

At Westminster Magistrates Court in London on Thursday, Roach appeared via videolink from prison. He was wearing a black, long-sleeve t-shirt and black glasses. He spoke initially to confirm his name and date of birth.



The court then confirmed that the UK had received extradition papers from Singapore, and explained to Roach that he could consent to that process.

He was then asked if he understood what this meant, to which he replied: "Yes".

Roach was then asked if wished to consent to extradition, to which he replied: "No".

The judge said he would adjourn the hearing to a new date on Feb 22. The judge said that the new hearing will be a case review and management hearing.

The judge added that the intervening week will allow Roach to instruct lawyers for the extradition process.

Before the end of the hearing, Roach was again asked if he understood, to which he replied: "Yes, thank you."

Thursday's hearing lasted a few minutes and Roach appeared calm throughout, showing little emotion.

