Singapore court fines French teenager US$465 for viral straw-licking prank

The vendor has to replace all 500 straws after the 19-year-old takes one from a machine, licks it, then places it back into the dispenser

The clip had gone viral after someone in his Instagram circle recorded it and forwarded the footage to a media outlet, the defence said.

Didier Gaspard Owen Maximilien, 19, pleaded guilty to one count of public nuisance, with a second charge of mischief taken into consideration.

On March 12, Maximilien attended a boxing session at Goldhill Centre. After this, he went to an iJooz vending machine there and bought a drink.

He took a straw from the machine, licked about half of it and placed the contaminated straw back on the straw dispenser, filming the process. He then collected the drink, took the contaminated straw and left.

Maximilien later edited the footage and uploaded it to Instagram.