Forged concert pass case: Fifth man jailed

Briton gets 4 weeks' jail for fake Ed Sheeran concert pass, 8 months for drug possession

The crowd at Ed Sheeran's concert at the Singapore Indoor Stadium last November. Five foreigners have since been jailed over the use of forged passes for the British singer's concerts, which took place on Nov 11 and 12.
The crowd at Ed Sheeran's concert at the Singapore Indoor Stadium last November. Five foreigners have since been jailed over the use of forged passes for the British singer's concerts, which took place on Nov 11 and 12. ST PHOTO: ARIFFIN JAMAR

A fifth man involved in the Ed Sheeran forged concert pass case was convicted of drug possession and using a forged pass yesterday.

Briton Luke Simon McKay, 49, who faced three charges, admitted to abetment by conspiracy with Australian Paul Cosgrove, 56, to fraudulently use as genuine a "Divide A-A-A" pass at the Singapore Indoor Stadium last November.

He also admitted to having three tablets and one fragment of a tablet with at least 3.86g of methadone at Bedok police divisional headquarters on Nov 15 last year. A drug consumption charge was taken into consideration in sentencing.

District Judge Hamidah Ibrahim sentenced him to eight months in jail for drug possession and four weeks' jail for the forged pass, to run consecutively. She backdated his sentence to Nov 14.

Assistant Public Prosecutor Lydia Goh said that around April last year, McKay learnt that Cosgrove, whom he had known for some 15 years, could make forged concert passes.

They arranged to meet in Singapore for the popular British singer's concerts, which took place on Nov 11 and 12.

Cosgrove suggested using forged concert passes to bring people into the concert venue and make money from it. McKay, who agreed to the idea, got in touch with an Australian couple who were interested in watching the concerts.

Tickets to the concerts cost $108 to $248, and there were security checks at the entrance of the Singapore Indoor Stadium to make sure concertgoers had valid tickets.

On Nov 12, McKay met the couple outside the Singapore Indoor Stadium. He went off and returned with three forged "Divide A-A-A" passes from Cosgrove.

He and the couple were able to enter the stadium with the forged passes. After the couple were seated, they paid McKay $120 and returned the passes to him.

A security officer questioned the couple and managed to track McKay down outside the stadium.

Police detained McKay, who had $115 on him. He allegedly used some money to buy drinks. Three days later, he was arrested for drug possession at the Bedok police lock-up. He said the methadone was for his own consumption.

Cosgrove and three other foreigners have since been jailed for four weeks each. McKay could have been jailed for up to four years and/or fined for using the forged pass. For drug possession, he could have been jailed for up to 10 years and/or fined up to $20,000.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on January 13, 2018, with the headline Forged concert pass case: Fifth man jailed. Subscribe