Court Refuses To Jail Teenager For Umbrella Assault

A magistrate has refused a request by prosecutors to jail a teenager who poked a police officer in the chest with an umbrella during protest clashes in Sha Tin last summer.

Lau Yun-long, 19, had pleaded guilty to assaulting a police officer at New Town Plaza on July 14 last year, saying he believed his action had been justified and suggesting he would be prepared to do something similar again in the future.

In February, he was fined HK$2,000 by Shatin Magistrates' Court.

But the Department of Justice appealed against the punishment and called for Lau to be given a custodial sentence instead.

However, on Friday West Kowloon magistrate David Ko ruled that the fine was an appropriate punishment, noting that the assault was not that serious, that Lau had acted alone, and that no other weapons were used, other than the umbrella.

Ko also noted that Lau had already spent around 100 days on remand. The teenager has also been charged with an alleged attack on a Global Times reporter at the airport on August 2 last year.