Man jailed for 4 years and 9 months for rioting and arson during Mong Kok civil unrest

Screenshot: Apple Daily
Screenshot: Apple Daily

A computer technician was sentenced to four years and nine months in jail at District Court today after he was convicted of participating in last year’s Mong Kok riot, during which he set a taxi on fire.

Yeung Ka-lun, 32, previously denied two charges of rioting and arson. He is the first person who was convicted on both charges in relation to the riot, which took place in Mong Kok last February.

The court identified Yeung based on photos and video footage taken during the riot on the eve of the Lunar New Year.

District Court judge Anthony Kwok said he hoped radical young people could learn a lesson from the case, that “one has to be brave in facing the legal consequences after demonstrating the same courage in challenging authority and the law,” SCMP reports.

Kwok said he was sad to jail a man with good prior conduct, but emphasised that a heavy sentence was necessary to act as a “deterrent”, as the court had to consider the case’s “social consequences”. Kwok started with a five-year sentence, which he reduced by three months in light of Kwok’s previously clean record.

Yeung is the fourth person convicted of rioting in the Lunar New Year unrest. Earlier in March, two students and a chef were sentenced to three years each for one count of joint rioting.

Several others have also been convicted of other charges over the protest, including Civic Passion member Chan Pak-yeung, who recently lost an appeal against his nine-month sentence of assaulting police with water bottles and resisting arrest during the riot.



Reader Interactions

Leave A Reply


BECOME A COCO+ MEMBER

Support local news and join a community of like-minded
“Coconauts” across Southeast Asia and Hong Kong.

Join Now
Coconuts TV
Our latest and greatest original videos
Subscribe on