A Singapore court jailed two Germans for nine months and three strokes of the cane on Thursday after they pleaded guilty to spray-painting graffiti on a train.

Andreas Von Knorre, 22, and Elton Hinz, 21, both expressed remorse in court.

“This is the darkest episode of my entire life,” said Von Knorre. “I am very angry with myself.”

Singapore is well known for its cleanliness and its zero tolerance for crime.

The two were accused of vandalism and trespass after they broke into one of Singapore’s train depots last November to spray-paint a carriage.

They then fled Singapore, only to be tracked down in neighbouring Malaysia in an international manhunt and were brought back to the city-state to face potential flogging and jail time.

Singapore’s vandalism laws became global news in 1994 when American teenager Michael Fay was caned for damaging cars and public property, despite appeals for clemency from the US government, including then President Bill Clinton.