Bottle-thrower Jailed 28 Months For Rioting

A man has been jailed for two years and four months for rioting after he threw a plastic water bottle in the direction of the police during protests in 2019 that the judge described as an "unequal civil war".

The District Court had heard how Lai Chun-lok, 29, joined other protesters in Sha Tin's New Town Plaza on July 14, 2019.

Finding Lai guilty of rioting, judge Ernest Lin said video footage confirmed that the defendant had thrown a water bottle towards officers.

Lai shared a common purpose with other protesters to obstruct the police and to harm them, and his action had amounted to a breach of peace and rioting, the judge said.

During the mitigation plea, Lai's lawyer noted that his client was wearing a T-shirt and a pair of slippers at the time, and didn't have any protective gear or mask on. He had not planned his action, the lawyer said.

The lawyer also cited a letter from Lai's employer in the funeral industry, who praised the defendant as a good worker and a kind-hearted young man.

The judge accepted that the level of violence Lai had used was not the highest compared to similar cases, but said the plastic bottle could have inflicted serious harm on the police had it hit them.

He said he believed Lai had not thoroughly planned his action and could have been motivated by the atmosphere at the scene. But he added that the defendant's behaviour had been selfish and irresponsible.

The judge noted that the incident happened in the early stages of the 2019 protests and that people had not used weapons like petrol bombs at the time. The demonstrations became more and more violent as time passed and by October, Hong Kong was in the midst of an "unequal civil war", the judge said.

He added that some irresponsible scholars, politicians and businessmen had helped intensify the situation internationally, causing an enormous storm.