判刑理由書撮要(由AI生成)
以下撮要以AI生成及／或翻譯，內容以原來的判刑理由書為準。
The judgment states that on the afternoon of 22 December 2019, the defendants participated in an assembly with a police-issued no-objection notice at Edinburgh Place in Central, which suddenly escalated into a riot. Some people tore down the national flag, and officers who entered to investigate were surrounded and verbally abused by the crowd. One defendant charged and assaulted an officer from behind, while another defendant, together with the crowd, kicked, threw miscellaneous objects and used folding chairs in violent acts, and helped co-defendants to escape. Ultimately, officers deployed pepper spray to disperse and subdue multiple individuals, after which the two were arrested.
In this case, pursuant to the Court of Appeal’s sentencing principles for the offence of “rioting”, the court emphasised that maintaining public order and punishing collective violence must be strict, taking into account factors such as the suddenness of the conduct, number of participants, degree of violence, duration and use of weapons; offences of assaulting police and assisting offenders also require immediate imprisonment for punishment and deterrence.
This was a spontaneous incident of moderate scale and violence, with the defendants not being organisers but acting on impulse; the third defendant’s assault on an officer and the first defendant’s assistance in evasion were aggravating factors. The sentencing range was increased from 43 months to 45 months. The credit for guilty pleas had already been applied to other charges, with no additional reduction.
The judge held that individual conduct and the public interest must both be considered to uphold the rule of law and public safety, and that the sentence should have sufficient punitive and deterrent effect.
Both defendants were each sentenced to 3 years and 9 months’ imprisonment (45 months) for the offence of “rioting”; the third defendant was sentenced to 9 weeks’ imprisonment for “assaulting a police officer” and the first defendant to 9 weeks’ imprisonment for “assisting an offender”, all to be served concurrently with the rioting sentence, and were remanded in custody. (Translated from Chinese to English by AI)
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