A burglar with a compulsion for breaking into fire stations was given two years' probation yesterday for the ninth such offence in 20 years.
District Court judge Peter Line said Lau Tin-wai, 32, should also get psychotherapy, especially with his family.
Lau pleaded guilty on April 25 in the District Court to one count of burglary at the Cheung Sha Wan fire station on Christmas Day last year, and one of theft of a mobile phone on a minibus.
Judge Line, who described the burglary as 'very strange', had adjourned sentencing until May 16 for a psychological report, but Lau had failed to co-operate with a psychologist appointed by the Correctional Service Department.
Sentencing was again adjourned until yesterday as Lau had decided to see the psychologist a few days before May 16.
The psychologist attributed Lau's criminal conduct to a self-destructive tendency caused by his upbringing. The court heard Lau's father was a drug addict and his mother did not spend much time with him.
