HONG KONG: Two teenage girls were found guilty of bullying a schoolmate in Tsuen Wan and were sentenced to 18 months of probation.

Magistrate Anthony Yuen also ordered them to obey a curfew.

Charges against a third girl, who earlier pleaded guilty of assaulting the victim along with her peers, were dismissed, but she was also ordered to observe a curfew.

The other six accused will have to wait for further probation reports before a verdict is handed down and were ordered to stay at the Tuen Mun Children and Juvenile Home for the next three weeks. They will appear before the Tsuen Wan Magistrates' Court to hear their sentences on September 10.

The court earlier heard that the nine girls, aged from 12 to 14, who cannot be named, beat up their schoolmate for several hours after school on May 20. They then took the victim's clothes off in a shopping mall washroom and shot a video. The victim was also burnt with cigarettes.

The attackers then prevented the girl from leaving until around 9 pm and warned her not to tell her parents about the incident, the court heard.

The victim earlier testified that she was attacked after telling a teacher that one of the girls may have been involved in stealing a mobile phone at the school.

The accused whose charges were dismissed suffers from learning difficulties and epilepsy. The girl's barrister cited the teen's mother saying that her daughter has seizures at least once every two weeks. According to the probation report, she is easily influenced by her peers and does not have very good grades at school.

The court yesterday also heard that the girl has shown regret for the incident.

China Daily

(HK Edition 08/21/2009 page1)