Three Hong Kong protesters jailed for using metal barrier to charge doors of Legco building
Three previously given community service have sentences changed to 3½ months in prison
Three protesters previously sentenced to community service for breaking doors at the Legislative Council building during a rally last year had their sentences changed to 3 ½ months in jail on Tuesday after a magistrate reconsidered the violent nature of their actions.
Tai Chi-shing, 24, Cheung Chi-pong, 23, and Shek Ka-fai, 24, were jailed by Principal Magistrate Bina Chainrai at Eastern Court. They were released on bail, pending an appeal.
Their co-accused, Cheng Yeung, 19, was remanded in custody, pending a series of reports for sentencing on September 8.
In July, the four were ordered to perform 150 hours of community service, but the Department of Justice has since conducted a review of their punishments.
Chainrai said she considered the non-custodial sentence inappropriate after hearing submissions from the prosecution and given “the level of violence, the number of people involved, the extensive damage caused as well as the intimidating nature of the gathering giving rise to reasonable fear among bystanders”.
The four had pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful assembly and another of criminal damage in using a metal barrier to charge at the Legco building in Admiralty on November 19 last year.
