Teen Given Community Service Order After DOJ Appeal

A 16-year-old teenage girl who was put on probation for possessing the raw materials for Molotov cocktails was ordered to perform 120 hours of community service on Wednesday, after the Department of Justice appealed against an earlier probation order.

The Court of Appeal said it was wrong to sentence the girl to a year's probation, but ruled that it was not appropriate to send the teen to a juvenile centre or rehab facility.

Along with the community service, the court also gave the teenager a curfew from 7pm to 6am.

But the judge said prosecutors went a bit far in speculating that the girl actually planned to make a petrol bomb, adding that possessing the raw materials was not evidence of an intention to make one.

The teenager had earlier pleaded guilty to possessing the materials while she was in Tin Shui Wai posting leaflets promoting the anti-government movement ahead of National Day last year.

Officers had seized, among other things, ethanol and lighter fluid from her.