Teens set fire to door after staring incident

Teens set fire to door after staring incident

Three teens were so fired up over a staring incident that they cooked up a plan to burn down the front door of the person who stared at one of them.

Joe, 16, had taken offence at an acquaintance, Adam, 15, for staring at him.

Joe and his friends - Loo Wen Bin, 19, and Ben, 15 - then decided to get their own back for the perceived challenge by setting fire to the flat that Adam lived in.

The names of the minors involved have been changed.

In court yesterday, Loo, 19, who faced five charges, including mischief by fire with common intention, admitted to playing a role in setting Adam's front door on fire on April 1 last year.

The trio went to Adam's flat at Jurong West at about 2am on April Fool's Day, but they were not planning friendly pranks.

Loo poured lighter fluid on the main door while Joe, who has been convicted and sentenced, started the fire with a cooking lighter.

Ben acted as a lookout and held the staircase door open.

The group's mischievous deeds did not end there.

They went on to Boon Lay MRT station and stole a sling bag from Miss Tan Wee Lin, 23. They used her two credit cards to rack up a bill of more than $3,000 on a spending spree.

They travelled around the island, spending plastic money at Mustafa Centre at Syed Alwi Road, at various outlets on Sentosa and in Queensway.

Among their buys were swimming trunks worth $71.70, a $59.99 meal and a $681 Samsung Galaxy Note 2.

The court was told that Loo has since worked hard to raise about $3,900, which is the total amount of losses incurred.

He will be sentenced on April 30.

This article was published on April 11 in The New Paper.

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