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The judgment states that the PolyU incident occurred from 17 to 18 November 2019, during which protesters occupied the campus and rioted inside and outside the premises. Despite multiple police warnings to disperse, the situation remained unresolved. Defendants 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16 and 18, knowing the scene was a riot, remained on site, joining the rioting crowd to bolster its numbers; Defendant 9 also assaulted a police officer, causing minor injuries; Defendants 7 and 12 used face coverings during the illegal assembly.
The Court of Appeal held that the starting point for a riot sentence should not be less than three years’ imprisonment, with sentencing to consider the scale of the riot, the degree of violence, social harm and the defendant’s level of participation, and must be deterrent.
This Court regards each defendant as having the lowest level of participation, thus setting the starting point for the riot offence at three years’ imprisonment, with a 21% to 22% discount for early guilty pleas; an additional two-month reduction for those under 21 years old; for Defendant 9, the starting point for the assaulting a police officer offence is five years, which, after discount, is to be served consecutively with the riot sentence.
The judge considers that although there is no evidence the defendants themselves used violence, they remained at the scene in support of the riot, and must bear serious criminal liability for the destruction and injuries; age and guilty plea are mitigating factors, but the scope for reduction is limited.
Defendant 3 was sentenced to 26 months and two weeks’ imprisonment; Defendant 4 to 33 months; Defendant 6 to 28 months; Defendant 7 to 33 months; Defendant 9 to 56 months and three weeks for the combined sentences for riot and assaulting a police officer; Defendant 10 to 26 months and two weeks; Defendant 11 to 26 months and two weeks; Defendant 12 to 34 months; Defendant 13 to 35 months; Defendant 15 to 28 months; Defendant 16 to 26 months and two weeks; Defendant 18 to 28 months and two weeks. (Translated from Chinese to English by AI)
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