Bomb threat student evades jail

A university student who sent hoax bomb threats to the Legislative Council and MTR Corporation was sentenced to perform community service instead of going to jail, on Thursday.

Chan Hung-yu, 24, threatened bomb attacks against the Legco building and an MTR train in three e-mails that he sent out on May 15 and 16.

Tuen Mun Court sentenced the Open University student to performing 120 hours of community service for his conviction on three counts of gaining access to a computer with dishonest intent.

He has admitted sending the hoax threats out of anger about a filibuster in Legco and an MTR fare increase.

Chan hacked into a neighbour’s Wifi internet account from his Tin Shui Wai home, and used it to send the e-mails to Legco and MTR Corp.

In sentencing, Acting Principal Magistrate Stephen Smout described Chan’s behaviour as naive. The judge said he decided against a jail sentence after taking into account the student’s remorse and guilty plea.