Boys 9, 10, sought by police over extortion
Police are looking for two primary school pupils who are accused of extorting HK$1,500 from an eight-year-old schoolmate who stole from his grandmother to pay them.
The pair, aged nine or 10, are alleged to have intercepted and demanded money from the boy in a park outside the Long Ping Estate in Yuen Long several times last week.
'They threatened to assault the victim if he failed to pay,' a police officer said.
The victim, a Primary Two pupil, returned to the flat on the Sau Ping House, in the same estate, where he has lived with his 67-year-old grandmother since his parents divorced, and stole the money.
He handed a total of HK$1,500 to the extortionists on three occasions between last Wednesday and Friday, police said.
The grandmother found the money missing from her drawer on Monday night. When she shouted at her grandson, a neighbour, fearing she was abusing him, called the police at about 10pm.
Police have classified the case as extortion and crime-squad officers from Yuen Long are investigating. No one had been arrested last night.
Although the boy was threatened, he was not actually assaulted.
'The victim is scared. We have to let him calm down and will talk to him again,' a police investigator said.
He said officers would contact the boys' school to get more information and look into whether the two suspects had approached other students.
'Initial investigation indicates that there is no triad involvement. We believe it is just a bullying case,' the investigator said. But he said it was rare for such bullying to involve primary pupils.
Under the Juvenile Offenders Ordinance, the minimum age of criminal responsibility is 10 except for rape cases, when it is 14.
