判刑理由書撮要(由AI生成)
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The judgment notes that the two defendants assembled at around 11:30 am on 18 November 2019 with about fifty people outside Diocesan Girls’ School on Jordan Road. During the gathering, some held bricks and suspected petrol bombs, advancing towards and throwing objects at the police cordon on the Gascoigne Road footbridge. After issuing warnings, the police fired tear gas and used lawful force to disperse the crowd, subsequently subduing and arresting the two defendants. One defendant was dressed in black, wearing a gas mask, and had two knives and a hammer concealed in his backpack; the other was also dressed in black and wearing a mask, and video footage shows them discarding a glass bottle containing a small amount of petrol distillate, two cans of lighter fluid, and an adhesive. The two admitted to rioting and pleaded guilty; the other two charges of possessing offensive weapons and possessing items with intent to destroy property were not proceeded with.
With reference to the factors for sentencing for rioting as set out by the Court of Appeal in Tang Ho-yin and Leung Tin-kei, including whether there was premeditation, the number of participants, the degree of violence and use of weapons, duration, resulting consequences, and the role of the defendant.
This was a spontaneous incident involving about fifty participants, lasting about twenty minutes, with no injuries. The defendants were neither organisers nor instigators. The first merely moved a barricade to protect others, and the knives and hammer he carried were tools of his trade. Although the second defendant possessed petrol items, there was no evidence that these had been thrown. The degree of violence and the consequences were relatively minor compared to relevant cases.
Considering that this case is less severe than the Tang Ho-yin case but involves the risk of petrol bombs, the starting sentence was set at 51 months. A one-third reduction was granted for an early guilty plea, and a further two-month reduction was allowed as the defendants were first-time offenders.
Each defendant was ultimately sentenced to 32 months’ imprisonment. (Translated from Chinese to English by AI)
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