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The judgment states that on the evening of 18 November 2019, nine defendants, together with others, participated in a riot around Nathan Road at the intersection of Waterloo Road and Hamilton Street in Yau Ma Tei, Kowloon. They threw petrol bombs, bricks and other debris, and used umbrellas and wooden planks to build barricades against the police. The police mobilised the Riot Squads and Special Tactical Units, advancing in stages from points A, B, C and D to establish a cordon, discharged tear gas and arrested protesters, apprehending a total of 213 individuals, including the nine defendants in this case. The prosecution relied on CCTV footage, police officer statements and footage from the temporary detention area to demonstrate that the defendants refused to attend court to give evidence without reasonable explanation, failing to undermine the prosecution’s allegations.
Under Section 19 of the Public Order Ordinance, the offence of riot carries a maximum sentence of ten years’ imprisonment. Sentencing must be determined with reference to the role the defendant played in the riot, the nature of any weapons used, and the overall risk posed to society.
The defendants were all dressed in dark clothing and carried protective equipment. Their places of residence were distant from the scene yet they appeared at the riot site late at night without offering any reasonable explanation for their presence. They cooperated with others in throwing petrol bombs and bricks, posing a serious threat to public safety. The evidence clearly shows that they participated in the riot in an organised manner and facilitated its continuation, warranting severe punishment.
The court finds the prosecution’s evidence to be comprehensive, credible and reliable. The defendants were aware that the riot was underway but remained at the scene; their intent to participate and actual conduct are clear and without any reasonable doubt. Collective rioting conduct must be met with strong denunciation and punishment.
All nine defendants were convicted of riot. (Translated from Chinese to English by AI)
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判刑理由書撮要(由AI生成)
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The judgment states that the ten defendants on 2019年11月18日 in the Nathan Road area of Yau Ma Tei, Kowloon, ignored multiple police warnings and, together with other rioters, erected barricades using umbrellas, wooden boards and the like to block the roads. They threw approximately 250 petrol bombs, LPG cylinders and bricks at the police, fired laser beams, and confronted about 200 police officers for over 38 minutes. Ultimately, the police launched an encirclement operation and arrested 213 people, among whom the ten defendants were convicted for participating in the riot prior to the arrests.
The maximum penalty for the offence of rioting is ten years’ imprisonment. Referring to Court of Appeal precedents and taking into account the scale of the riot and the roles of participants, the sentencing range in this case has been set at between 5 years and 3 months and 5 years and 6 months; for those who carried equipment such as umbrellas or telescopes the starting point is 5 years and 6 months, while for the other defendants it is 5 years and 3 months.
The judge considered factors including whether the riot was premeditated, the number of participants (1500 to 2000), the degree of violence employed, the number of petrol bombs used, and the resulting personal and property damage, and concluded that the riot in this case was large-scale, well-organised and highly violent and deterrent in nature, warranting a heavy sentence; at the same time, he deducted two months from the term in view of time-saving factors such as the defendants’ guilty pleas, their relatively lesser involvement, and their waiving of witnesses’ attendance.
The judge held that the riot severely undermined public order and the rule of law, and that immediate imprisonment was necessary to reflect the punitive and deterrent purposes of sentencing and to impose sufficient punishment on the participants, thereby upholding the dignity of the rule of law.
Defendants 1, 3, 7, 9, 11, 13 and 20 were each sentenced to 5 years and 1 month’s imprisonment; defendants 14 and 18 were each sentenced to 5 years and 4 months’ imprisonment; defendant 6, being 19 years old and having pleaded guilty at an early stage, was sentenced to detention at a training centre. (Translated from Chinese to English by AI)
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