Stolen Freddo: boy, 12, charged

AN ABORIGINAL boy, 12, will face a children's court today charged with receiving a stolen Freddo frog.

The chocolate frog, allegedly shoplifted by the child's friend from a Coles supermarket in regional Western Australia, usually sells for about 70 cents.

The boy, who has no prior convictions, also faces a second charge involving the receipt of a novelty sign from another store. The sign, which was also allegedly given to the boy by his friend, read: ''Do not enter, genius at work.''

The boy's lawyer, Peter Collins, has lobbied WA police for the charges to be withdrawn, but authorities had failed to respond to his request, he said.

''It's scandalous that a 12-year-old child should be subject to prosecution for a case of this type,'' he told The Age.