A gang of teenagers took turns torturing a boy to death before burning his body and dumping it in a rubbish bin, the Court of First Instance heard yesterday.
Luk Chi-wai, 16, was punched, kicked, whipped with a leather belt, held upside down and swung around the room, and hit with poles and stools until he was dead, the court heard.
The prosecution accepted a guilty plea to a lesser charge of manslaughter yesterday after one of the 14 attackers, Shek Tsz-kin, denied murder.
Shek, a student, now 18, also admitted a charge of preventing the lawful burial of a corpse.
The 13 other defendants, including three girls, face similar charges of murder and will stand trial next month. They are aged from 14 to 17.
Prosecutor Alice Lee Sin-bing said the attack was triggered when the defendants found out Luk encouraged associate Chan Muk-ching to tell police the gang had beaten him up.