Reformative training for teen who forced boy to strip, dance and lick shoes

Two teenage boys, who stole cash from a male victim, denied doing so when the victim confronted them and assaulted him instead.

The assailants, with a third teenage boy, attacked him again, after the victim reported the matter to the staff of the hostel where he and two of the attackers lived.

During the second attack, the victim, who is now 16, was made to strip, dance and lick the shoes of his three assailants. Video recordings were made during this attack.

On Oct 22, one of the assailants, identified in court documents as “the accused”, was ordered to undergo reformative training for at least a year.

Those given such a sentence are detained in a centre to observe a strict regimen that can include foot drills and counselling.

The accused, now 17, had pleaded guilty to multiple charges including assault and harassment.

His 17-year-old accomplice, who was also a hostel resident at the time, was identified in court documents as B2. The third assailant, who was not a hostel resident, was identified as B3.

All the offenders in this case cannot be named as they were below 18 years old at the time of the attack.

Court documents did not disclose the outcome of B2’s and B3’s cases.

The prosecution said that some time before July 19, 2023, the victim told the accused and B2 that he had hidden a stash of money inside a fire hose reel cabinet at a block of flats. This was because the hostel had a limit on the amount of money a resident can keep on the premises. The amount of money the victim had was not disclosed in court documents.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Matthew Choo said: “The accused... went to the location of where the victim stashed his money and stole from the victim’s stash. The accused did so multiple times... B2 did the same some time in May 2023, taking $50.”

The victim later confronted the pair who denied stealing the money and instead, took offence at his accusations.

On July 19, 2023, they coerced the victim into going to a common toilet at their hostel and assaulted him.

The accused also threatened the victim by warning him to not “falsely accuse” them again. B2 then placed the victim in a chokehold before releasing the boy.

The victim reported the matter to the staff of the hostel the next day.

On the morning of July 21, 2023, B2 waited for the victim outside the hostel and asked the latter to skip school with him.

The victim initially refused but relented when the accused came forward and pressured him to do so.

B2 then called B3 who later met the trio at Punggol MRT station. The boys went to a nearby multi-storey carpark where the trio assaulted the vicitm.

DPP Choo said: “They then demanded for the victim to strip naked... The victim complied out of fear as he was cornered (and was) too weak from their attack to escape.”

From this point, the attack, which lasted around 30 minutes, was recorded on video by B3 using B2’s phone, the prosecution added.

The trio continued raining blows on the victim who was also forced to lick their shoes.

The accused and B2 then ordered the victim to dance before each of the two offenders, who individually recorded a video of the incident with their own mobile phones.

The assailants left the vicinity soon after the attack.

The victim alerted his school after he put on his clothes. Its counsellor then took him to the National University Hospital where he was found with injuries including multiple facial bruises.

His mother also alerted the police on July 21, 2023.