Mong Kok riot: another woman arrested over Lunar New Year unrest, bringing total number to 91
Arrest of 22-year-old Pat Wai-fun in Tsing Yi was made on same day District Court jailed nine more rioters in trial that lasted a whole year
A woman was arrested and charged on Thursday over the Mong Kok riot two years ago, bringing the total number of arrests to 91.
Pat Wai-fun, 22, was released on bail and will answer two charges of rioting at West Kowloon Court next Wednesday.
“Many people think the investigation is over, but our probe is still going on,” a police insider said.
Pat was first arrested in Cheung Wang Estate, Tsing Yi on July 7, 2016. She refused police bail in January 2017 and was released pending further investigation.
“Upon further investigation and legal advice, police arrested the woman again on Thursday for participating in a riot,” a police spokesman said, adding that 80 men and 11 women had been arrested since the riot.
Rioting is punishable by 10 years’ imprisonment.
On Thursday, a District Court judge sent another 19-year-old man to a training centre – an alternative to imprisonment for offenders aged 14-20 where the emphasis is on rehabilitation, often through learning a trade. The sentencing concluded the lengthiest trial over the riot that began when a hawker control operation in the city’s popular shopping district turned ugly on February 8, 2016.
So far, Hong Kong courts have convicted 28 people for charges including rioting, unlawful assembly, criminal damage, assaulting police and arson over the unrest on the first day of the Lunar New Year.
