Riot, Arson Conviction 'unfair', Court Told

The Court of Appeal has reserved judgement on whether it'll hear an appeal from a former computer technician convicted of rioting and arson during the Lunar New Year riot in Mong Kok in 2016.

Counsel for Yeung Ka-lun told the court that the trial judge had wrongly convicted his client based on flimsy evidence – including his client's protruding front teeth.

The lawyer questioned how the judge can be satisfied that Yeung is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt based solely on four photos taken during the unrest.

He also accused the judge of identifying his client by his buck teeth – a point he said the defence had no opportunity to argue against because it was never raised during the trial.

This, he said, was erroneously relied on as a decisive piece of 'evidence' – noting that police never found the glasses or clothes the photographed arsonist had worn during a search of the defendant's home.

But the Appeal Court judges responded by saying Yeung's teeth is only one of the factors the lower court considered in detail, and the trial judge can base his decision on the full body of evidence presented to him.

Yeung is appealing both his conviction and his 57-month prison term.

His lawyer argued that the sentence is excessive – pointing out that most others who were also convicted of rioting only got three years. He argued that even if his client had indeed set a taxi on fire, that didn't warrant sending him to prison for an extra year and nine months.

After listening to the arguments, the Appeal Court said it will hand down its decision at a later date.