Web scare schoolboy faces court summons
A 14-year-old schoolboy who caused panic with a bogus news report saying Hong Kong would be declared an infected area will face a court summons when he reports back to the police on Tuesday, a legal source said yesterday.
The Form Three student was arrested after police traced him to his home in Wang Fuk Court, Tai Po, on April Fools' Day, the same day he posted the report on his Web site. He has been free on $1,000 bail.
'There will be a court summons. That's all I can say,' the source said.
It is not clear whether a 23-year-old man who allegedly spread the report via e-mail will face a summons when he reports to police on Wednesday.
The bogus news item - which appeared on the boy's Web site along with the logo of the Chinese-language Ming Pao newspaper - said Hong Kong had been declared an infected port, the Hang Seng Index had collapsed and Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa had resigned.
E-mails about the bogus report spread across Hong Kong, causing panic buying at supermarkets.
The report forced the government to issue a rare official denial saying the city had not been declared an infected area.
Solicitor and Democratic Party legislator James To Kun-sun said that while summonses were usually issued for minor offences, this did not mean more serious criminal charges would not be laid.
'A summons and a charge are two different ways of bringing someone to court. One way of looking at the boy's summons is that they simply want to send him a warning and give him a fine,' he said.
'But the police and prosecution may still go for more serious charges when he appears in court.'
