An 18-year-old prefect from a Corporate Area high school and two minors were placed on 18 months probation yesterday when they appeared in the Half Way Tree Resident Magistrate's Court to answer to charges of computer theft.

Allegations are that the 11 grader and the two minors recently stole several computer accessories and computers from the institution before they were later apprehended by the police.

A teacher who turned up at the hearing was stopped midway through her bid in asking for leniency, as RM Brown pointed out that antisocial behaviour of this nature was not tolerated in his school years and should not be treated any differently today. The judge went further to say that a lot of what is happening in schools today is as a result of arrogance on the part of principals and school boards.

The accused sent light chuckles in the courtroom after telling RM Brown that he "represented his school as a prefect" and the computers he took were not working properly.

In handing down his ruling, RM Brown said that the other two accomplices were too young to be charged and that he would not allow the prefect "to start out life with a criminal record". However, he noted that should any of the accused reappear in the courts, leniency would be kept at a minimum.