Man Found Guilty Of Obstructing Cop During Protest

Kowloon City Court has found a 50-year-old man, who works as a cleaner, guilty of obstructing a police officer during an anti-extradition bill protest last August.

Protests broke out all over Hong Kong on August 5 last year, and in Sham Shui Po, black-clad demonstrators set up barricades at the intersection of Yan Chow Street and Cheung Sha Wan Road.

The court heard that a police sergeant wanted to question a teenager at the scene who was said to have shouted insults at officers.

The prosecution said the defendant, Ho Eng-leng, dashed out from the crowd and stood between the two with open arms, and told the teenager to “go, go away!”

The teenager then ran away, and Ho was pinned down, arrested, and subsequently charged.

Ho told the court he was just walking home after dinner and was suddenly arrested.

But the magistrate rejected his account, saying video footage captured by officers at the scene showed he ran towards the sergeant, who was moving towards the teenager at the time.

Sentencing was adjourned until next Friday pending a background and a community service report.

Ho was remanded in custody.