A gifted schoolboy who was fond of anatomy and medical books was sentenced to a detention centre after he admitted circumcising a younger boy with a pair of scissors in a Fanling public toilet.



Magistrate Andrew Chan Hing-wai in Fanling Court said he had never come across such a serious juvenile case nor handled such a highly intelligent defendant.



He said the boy - who has an intelligence quotient score of 145 - would require the 'short, sharp shock of disciplinary training' for his offence.



The 16-year-old Form Five student admitted wounding an 11-year-old Primary Six pupil inside the male toilet at a public playground in Wo Muk Road on June 17.



Mr Chan said evidence showed the defendant had carefully identified his victim.



Rejecting suggestions that the boy had intended to act for the victim's well-being, he said the defendant had taken the 11-year-old to a public toilet to satisfy his 'desire'.



The victim has since fully recovered and suffered no permanent damage.



In mitigation, lawyer Christopher Morley said the 16-year-old was a devoted Christian, enthusiastic in serving the school and active in extra-curricular activities.



Psychiatric and psychological reports said the boy did not suffer from mental illness but 'had some personality problem ... he was very self-righteous at times'.



The court heard that the boy told the victim he had a foreskin contraction that, if left untreated, would lead to urethritis and cancer.



After presenting a certificate from the St John Ambulance Brigade, he examined the 11-year-old's genitals at a shopping mall toilet and said he would need to perform surgery.



The victim refused to have the surgery done inside the dirty stall so the defendant led him to another public toilet where he made a further one-hour examination.



He then took scissors from the victim's schoolbag and performed the surgery, telling the boy to chew tissue paper to ease the pain. The victim's mother called police when she found blood on her son's pants.



The court heard the defendant was very curious about the human body because it was 'God's work'.



Offenders aged between 14 and 20 are kept in the detention centre from one to six months.



