Schoolboy, 15, placed under curfew for trespassing in PLA barracks

A 15-year-old schoolboy who pleaded guilty to trespassing at the People's Liberation Army barracks in Admiralty has been banned from leaving his family home at night for a year.

Magistrate Symon Wong Yu-wing yesterday handed down a 12-month care-and-protection order to the boy, who cannot be named because of his age.

Eastern Court heard that the schoolboy entered the barracks on Boxing Day last year as part of a protest against the handing over of a prime section of harbourfront land to the PLA so that a military berth could be built.

"Trespassing on military barracks is a very serious crime," Wong said. The court heard that the schoolboy had promised to focus on schoolwork and to "stop hanging out with friends who are a bad influence".

Wong said the teenager had to comply with instructions from a social welfare worker and that he would be placed under a curfew which would require him to stay home from 8pm to 6am every night for 12 months.

The 15-year-old and three others protested less than a metre inside the PLA barracks on December 26 last year.