A 17-year-old pupil was arrested on Sunday for burning debris four times in March and on Sunday on the backstairs of a residential building in Iao Hon district to “relieve pressure” because of his parents’ divorce and pressure at school, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Chan Wun Man said at a press conference yesterday.
The suspect surnamed Iong studies at a secondary school in the city centre.
According to Chan, the Fire Services Bureau (CB) notified the Judiciary Police on Sunday that several arson cases occurred in March and also on Sunday on the backstairs of a residential building in Avenida de Longevidade in Iao Hon district. Staff members of the building management told PJ officers that they discovered on March 5 that debris had been set alight on the backstairs on the sixth floor but they did not report the case to the police at that time as nothing had been damaged. However, the arson attacks happened again on March 9, 11, 14 and on Sunday (May 16) on the backstairs on the sixth, eighth and tenth floors damaging the building’s facilities such as the walls, two lamps, two rubbish bins, three building notices, and fibre optics.
Chan said firefighters found the cases suspicious and notified the Judiciary Police for a follow-up investigation.
After scrutinising the building’s CCTV footage, PJ officers identified Iong who lives in a flat on the seventh floor of the building and intercepted him at his home on Sunday afternoon. Under questioning, Iong told the police that he lives with his father in the flat and that he’s still unhappy about his parents’ divorce some two years ago and school pressure. He admitted that he used a lighter to set fire to the debris in order to “release stress”, claiming that merely by looking at the flames he felt relieved, according to Chan.
Chan said the building management committee was still estimating the total losses at the time of the press conference and the Judiciary Police have notified the Education and Youth Development Bureau (DSEDJ) to follow up the case.
Iong was transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday, facing arson charges, according to Chan.
Macau’s age of criminal responsibility is 16.
Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Chan Wun Man poses during a regular press conference at the Public Security Police (PSP) pressroom yesterday.
