Court Quashes Probation, Sends Boy To Rehab Centre

The Court of Appeal has sent a secondary school student to a rehabilitation centre for assaulting a police officer at a protest in 2019, overturning a lower court decision to put him on probation following an appeal by the Department of Justice.

The 16-year-old had been found guilty of assaulting an officer on October 7, 2019 at the intersection of Heung Sze Wui Road and Castle Peak Road in Tuen Mun.

Tuen Mun Magistracy had heard that while he was being chased, the boy used a wooden hammer to hit the officer’s arm twice.

The student’s lawyer told the Court of Appeal that his client had already completed almost five months of probation, and had complied with a curfew order.

The lawyer said according to the probation officer, the boy’s character and conduct was good, and both his relationship with his family and his academic performance had improved.

But three appeal court judges decided that the teenager should instead be sent to a rehabilitation centre.

No time frame was given for how long the boy will have to stay at the centre.