Killer litter: Brothers were home alone

SINAGPORE- The two boys arrested on Tuesday for killer litter in Dover Road were home alone and left to their own devices at the time of the alleged offences.

Their grandaunt, who is the primary caregiver for the brothers, aged 10 and 11, said yesterday that she had been out running errands at the time and was unaware of their activities.

The police said on Wednesday that the 10-year-old was nabbed following a report that a vehicle battery had been thrown from a high floor at Block 4 at about 6.20pm.

It was later revealed that the boy and his 11-year-old brother had also thrown a small speaker earlier in the day, and the older boy was subsequently arrested, said police.

"Sometimes, they can be noisy and naughty. I told them already, and they know how serious this is," said the 60-year-old grandaunt, who works as a part-time cleaner.

The boys' parents are divorced, and their father, who works as a security guard, lives in Queenstown. He visits them three or four times a week and also calls to check on them daily, she said.

When asked, the boys, who were home when The Straits Times visited their flat, did not dispute the allegations made against them.

They said they had found the two items at different lift landings at the block.

They said that at 11am, they hurled the speaker, which came from a radio, from the lift landing on the seventh floor.

At 6pm that day, they went up to the top floor of the 14-storey block to throw the battery, which they had found on another floor, they said. This landed near a passer-by and his friends who had been sitting at a nearby pavilion.

The two boys are understood to be out on police bail.

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