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A 14-year-old was held in solitary confinement at a boys' home for a month, a juvenile court heard yesterday.

 The claim was made as the teenager appeared charged with attempting to escape on August 11 from the home, where he was sentenced to be detained indefinitely after being convicted of car theft last December.

 Barrister Cheung Yiu-leung, representing the boy, told Kwun Tong Court he was concerned about the way his client had been treated. Mr Cheung said the boy had been imprisoned instead of segregated as stated in the law because he was kept in a locked room and was not allowed to contact anyone.

 'I really don't understand why a 14-year-old would be subjected to such treatment, which is harsher than that in prison,' Mr Cheung said.

 The superintendents by law were only permitted to put adult prisoners in solitary confinement for a maximum of 28 days, he added.

 It was shocking that a boy should be kept alone in a cell for a month, he said.

 He argued his client could not be charged with attempting to escape, because the Reformatory School Ordinance said it was only an offence to help someone else to escape.

 The action amounted to nothing more than breaking the home's rules, drawn up by the Social Welfare Department, which ran the O Pui Shan Boys Home in Lai Chi Kok, he said.

 'A juvenile home is similar to that of a strongly disciplined boarding school in nature, and the offence could be dealt with internally by applying the appropriate disciplinary actions'.

 In his client's case, he only managed to sneak past the first of two doors leading from his cell before being caught. The boy has since been transferred to a different home.

 Prosecutor Kuk Suen-sau said she would need more time to prepare legal arguments and seek instructions from the Department of Justice.

  Magistrate Tsang Fan-hoi adjourned the case until November 19.



Boy, 14, in solitary confinement for a month