判刑理由書撮要(由AI生成)
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The judgment pointed out that on the evening of 18 November 2019, the six defendants, in response to an online call, assembled with others near Nathan Road between Waterloo Road and Hamilton Street in Yau Ma Tei, Kowloon, and used petrol bombs, wooden planks and other materials to obstruct the police clearance. More than two thousand people were on site, and the violence lasted for over forty minutes, causing injuries to officers, paralysis of traffic, and widespread damage to shops and public facilities. Defendants one to four were convicted at trial of rioting; defendant one was also convicted of possession of an offensive weapon in a public place. Defendants five and six pleaded guilty to rioting and were convicted according to the relevant plea procedure.
Under section 19 of the Public Order Ordinance, the maximum penalty for rioting is ten years’ imprisonment, with the District Court able to impose up to seven years; see the twelve sentencing factors listed by the Court of Appeal in the case of Edward Leung Tin-kei.
Considering that the offence was premeditated, on a large scale, with a serious level of violence and disruption to social order, but noting that the six defendants were neither leaders nor direct perpetrators of violence and only lent support to the crowd on site, the sentence was set at a starting point of 63 months. Reductions were made for trial efficiency in saving court resources, age, and guilty pleas, but no discount was given for the absence of prior convictions or personal circumstances, so as to maintain the deterrent effect for the overall interests of society.
The judge emphasised that upholding the core values of the rule of law in Hong Kong requires punitive and deterrent sentences to maintain public order, with zero tolerance for violent conduct. Although the defendants had good backgrounds, they must still bear the consequences of their deliberate participation in the riot.
Defendant one was sentenced to a total of 63 months’ imprisonment for rioting and possession of an offensive weapon; defendants two and four were each sentenced to 61 months’ imprisonment; defendant three was sentenced to 60 months; defendant five to 47 months; and defendant six to 48 months. (Translated from Chinese to English by AI)
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