A 13-year-old local junior secondary schoolboy and his two classmates burnt a pair of sneakers in a public basement car park in Praça de Ferreira do Amaral on June 8, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Chong Kam Leong said at a press conference on Monday.
The three boys, all aged 13, attend at the same secondary school in the city centre.
According to Chong, the Fire Services Bureau (CB) informed the Judiciary Police in the evening of June 8 about an arson case at the car park earlier that day.
PJ officers scrutinised the car park’s CCTV footage which showed three schoolboys involved in the case. They contacted the boys’ parents through their school. The parents went to a police station together with the boys to assist in the investigation.
Chong said the Judiciary Police confirmed that one of the boys had bought a pair of sneakers online from a mainland website for 187 yuan (230 patacas). He wasn’t satisfied with the quality as it appeared to be different from what he had seen online.
So he went to the car park with his two schoolmates to burn the sneakers there.
According to Chong, one of the boys only accompanied them but did not participate in burning the sneakers. The three boys left the car park after burning one of the sneakers. The car park’s management company reported the arson but no damage was caused to the car park.
The case had been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) for follow up.
Due to their age, the trio cannot be criminally charged. However, they can be ordered by the judicial authorities to undergo non-penal correctional measures such as counselling.
Macau’s age of criminal responsibility stands at 16.
This updated handout photo released by the Judiciary Police earlier this week shows a sneaker burnt by schoolboys in the public basement car park of Praça de Ferreira do Amaral on June 8.
