SINGAPORE: In August 2020, a 15-year-old student climbed into his secondary school at night with four other students and left a mess behind, overturning tables and chairs and spraying fire extinguishers on the floor.
The school discovered the mess but called the police only a few days later as the students were having examinations.
The 15-year-old student, who is now 17, pleaded guilty to his role in the incident on Monday (Jan 16). He also admitted to multiple other offences including theft of cashcards and trespassing into a compound at Shenton Way to perform stunts on a scooter.
The teen, who cannot be named as he is under 18, pleaded guilty to four charges including theft, trespass and mischief. Several other charges will be considered in sentencing.
The court heard that the teen had gone to his school after closing hours, at around 8pm on Aug 26, 2020. He was with four other students aged between 16 and 17 at the time.
The five boys climbed in by the side gate and avoided closed-circuit television footage cameras.
They overturned tables and chairs in six classrooms, broke six window panels and used two fire extinguishers at staircases and on the floor and tables of classrooms.
The school management narrowed down the culprits to the group of teens, as the offender had been asking other students about CCTV in the school.
He had also been talking about his plan to carry out the acts, the court heard. The school’s discipline master lodged a police report on Aug 29, 2020 over damage to the school facilities.
The teenager also admitted to another incident on Jun 2, 2021, when he trespassed into Asia Square, an office and retail building at 7 Shenton Way with four others.
They had gone there to play with their scooters, to perform stunts and record them.
A security officer on duty at the loading bay at Asia Square noticed the boys with scooters and tried to stop them from entering to no avail.
The teen also admitted to stealing cashcards from vehicles at car parks.
In mitigation, he told the court that he had “mixed with the wrong company of friends” and stayed away from home due to family problems.
He said he has since been referred to a few programmes and now understands his emotions better. He also managed to complete his N-level’s privately and has learned about himself.
He said he is in the midst of changing his life and hopes to do things right and complete a course with an Institute of Technical Education.
The court called for a probation suitability report and adjourned sentencing to March.
