Construction Worker Found Guilty Of Rioting

A construction worker has become the first person to be found guilty of rioting in connection with last year's anti-government protests.

Shum Hiu-lun, 26, had attacked a police officer during a siege of the police headquarters in Wan Chai on June 26 last year.

He has been remanded in custody till his sentencing on September 25.

The court heard that Shum twice punched the plainclothes officer, Cheung Kam-fok, when he was being surrounded by protesters outside the police headquarters.

District Court judge Anthony Kwok found Shum guilty of rioting, common assault, and failing to surrender to custody after skipping a pretrial hearing while on bail.

In his ruling Kwok said that the defendant admitted he and other demonstrators were carrying metal barriers and other items at the time, blocking the entrances and exits of the police headquarters.

He pointed out that that night thousands of demonstrators surrounded the building, sprayed graffiti on its walls, and covered up the security cameras using plastic bags to hide their identities.

The judge said these behaviours are extremely threatening and disruptive.

During his trial, Shum claimed he only attacked the policeman out of self-defence after the officer rushed towards him.

He said he had seen the officer push a female protester to the ground and just wanted to stop him from getting to other people.

But judge Kwok rejected the self-defence claim.

He said Shum had "joined the battle" and taken advantage of the chaos at the scene to attack the policeman.

Shum is the first person to be found guilty of rioting over the unrest. Earlier this year, a 21-year-old man had pleaded guilty to the charge.

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