Hong Kong: 17-year-old sent to rehabilitation centre for trashing Chinese tea house

A Hong Kong student has been sent to a rehabilitation centre for damaging properties of a local branch of a Chinese teahouse chain last year.

This comes after Hong Kong Court found the 17-year-old boy's original sentence of community service "mfestly inadequate," South China Morning Post reported.

The Court of Appeal on Friday imposed a custodial sentence on Chow Kin-nok on a criminal damage charge he admitted over his role in breaking three machines at Heytea in New Town Plaza on May 13, 2020.

Last year, the protesters had gathered in shopping malls across the city, heeding online calls to "celebrate" the birthday of Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor.

The damage to two cash registers and an Octopus card electronic payment processor had cost the shop HK$15,200 (US$1,956).

Chow was originally given 200 hours of community service by acting principal magistrate Jason Wan Siu-ming of Sha Tin Court.But the order was set aside last month when three judges sided with prosecutors in a sentencing review and agreed that Wan had erred in principle and imposed a "mfestly inadequate" sentence.

The higher court said a custodial sentence with an element of rehabilitation was most appropriate in the case, and considered the options of a training centre, a detention centre and a rehabilitation centre.

According to SCMP, rehabilitation centres are reserved for those aged between 14 and 20, who are not suitable for a training or detention centre, but require a short custodial sentence, for the purpose of rehabilitation and deterring further criminal conduct.

Hong Kong's pro-China authorities have been targeting pro-democracy activists and lawmakers. Actions have been taken against the people who took part in last year's protests.

More than 10,200 people were arrested in connection with the anti-government protests in the 20 months since mid-2019, with over 600 of those already convicted, according to latest official updates to legislators.

( With inputs from ANI )