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Four teenagers wearing clown masks charged in Australia for attempted robbery

Xinhua, October 18, 2016 Adjust font size:

Four young Australian boys donning creepy clown masks who broke into a hotel, terrifying people and attempting a robbery in a Queensland hotel have been brought to book by the authorities.

News Corp reported on Tuesday that the boys, three teenagers aged 14 and a 12-year-old, had scared off several people around the Cairns centre business district area while wearing the creepy clown masks on Saturday night and early Sunday morning.

The charge comes right after a number of incidents were reported across Australia involving people dressing up as creepy clowns and scaring off bystanders, a phenomenon which started in the United States earlier this year.

Queensland Police said the charges were laid on the boys on Sunday after they were caught by security guards breaking into two apartments at the Lake St complex in Cairns and allegedly stealing several items from inside the units, including mobile phones, cash and electronic items.

Queensland's Far North police Acting Ins­pector Mick Gooiker told News Corp that all four boys had entered the hotel via an underground car park and were allegedly wearing the masks during one of the break-ins.

"But there is no suggestion of any weapons being used or of them being armed," Gooiker said.

All four teenage boys have since each been charged with four counts of entering a premise to steal, two counts of wilful damage and one count of public nuisance, which relates to the alleged mask-wearing incidents in Cairns.

They will be dealt with under the provisions of the Youth Justice Act 1992.

This is not the first time the Australian police has laid charges on its citizens committing a crime while wearing the creepy clown mask.

Earlier this month, a 19-year-old teenager from Perth, who scared the group of girls near a shopping centre in Northam, northeast of Perth, was charged with disorderly behaviour and a possession of a disguise.

While another 15-year-old teenager was arrested and charged in Brisbane's south last week after police allegedly found him standing on the street wearing a creepy clown mask and carrying a knife. Enditem