Teen sent to reform school for scalding schoolmates

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The teen offender and his family member being escorted out of the courtroom by a policeman.

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KUCHING: The Magistrate’s Court here ordered a teenage boy to be sent to the Henry Gurney School for three years after he pleaded guilty to injuring eight of his dorm-mates with a hot iron while they were asleep in early May.

The incident was reportedly motivated by the teen’s desire to bully his schoolmates “for fun.”

The decision was handed down after the court reviewed the 14-year-old’s character report from the Social Welfare Department (JKM), in accordance with Section 91(1)(b) of the Child Act 2001.

The court also ordered the parents of the Form Two student to visit him once every two months as stipulated under Section 93(1)(d) of the same Act.

Upon completion of the detention period, the teenager will be placed under the supervision of a probation officer for one year under Section 70 of the Child Act 2001.

The boy was charged under Section 324 of the Penal Code for voluntarily causing hurt using a heated iron to eight victims aged between 13 and 15.

The offence took place between 12.30am and 2am on May 2 at a secondary school dormitory in Matang.

According to the case facts, a teacher had informed the dormitory’s chief warden that a student had suffered burns on his left arm and needed to return home for treatment.

A briefing was then held for dormitory students in the school hall, during which the chief warden also received complaints from five students who were in pain due to their injuries.

The nature of the burns raised suspicions, as the wounds appeared to have been inflicted with a heated object.

Two student prefects later brought the teen offender and other eyewitnesses to the teacher who had made the report.

Police reports were also filed by the victims and their parents.

Investigations revealed that the teen offender had deliberately pressed a hot iron onto the bodies of the eight victims while they were sound asleep.

All of the victims sustained burn injuries to their shoulders, calves, and legs, and received treatment at the Sarawak General Hospital (SGH).

Several witnesses saw the offender pressing the hot iron on the victims’ bodies as they slept and the teen admitted to the offence in front of his teacher.

The case was prosecuted by ASP Arman Ibrahim and Insp Nur Shafiqa Nyaie Ilin, while the teen was represented by Russell Lim and Brendan Ting from the National Legal Aid Foundation (YBGK).

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