Petrol Bomb Teen Gets Tougher Sentence After Review

A 15-year-old has been sent to a detention centre on Thursday after the Department of Justice (DOJ) won a review over a probation verdict that was handed down for throwing petrol bombs.

The boy was arrested after throwing three petrol bombs as a test in Yuen Long in January 8.

In May, the teenager was given an 18-month probation by Tuen Mun magistrate Kelly Shui after pleading guilty to arson and possessing materials with intent to damage property. He was also required to serve the first half of the probation period at a juvenile facility for supervision and observe a 7pm to 6am curfew after that.

Shui had also described the teenager as one of those "outstanding" youngsters the court had to face, and hoped he had learnt his lesson.

But the department lodged an appeal, saying the sentence was too lenient and some people had criticised the verdict.

The Appeal Court judges upheld the DOJ's plea and ruled that the sentencing magistrate was wrong in principle, and the penalty was clearly too light.

The maximum period that the teen has to serve at the detention centre is only six months, but during the custodial sentence he has to undergo hard physical labour and discipline similar to a prison.