Thursday July 24, 11:17 AM
Three Hong Kong children jailed for armed holdup
BEIJING (Reuters) - Three Hong Kong children have jailed
for more than three years for the armed hold-up of a jewellery
shop, a newspaper said on Thursday, with the court saying the
stiff sentence was in the public interest.
Disguised with masks and caps, the two boys and one girl,
all aged 14, threatened staff at the shop with knives in
September last year, grabbing gold necklaces, bracelets and
pendants valued at more than HK$1 million (64,176 pounds).
Sentencing the three, now aged 15, the judge said the
offence was too serious to warrant a training centre term
despite the age of the three, the South China Morning Post
said.
One boy, an apprentice to the mastermind goldsmith who had
earlier been jailed for seven years, was sentenced to three
years and seven months, while the other two, who are cousins,
were jailed for three years and five months.
Earlier this week, a court heard that a nine-year-old Hong
Kong girl travelled alone into mainland China to collect heroin
and bring it back in her rucksack for a drug trafficker who
paid her HK$1,200.
(Reporting by Nick Macfie; Editing by David Fox)
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