Former Hong Kong orchestras trumpeter gets 4½ years in jail for storing explosives, weapons
- Judge says Man Hay, 33, was promising musician but ended his career by stockpiling over 10kg of explosive materials discovered at rented storage unit in 2022
- ‘The defendant was well educated and the future looked bright for this young musician. But he committed a serious offence and ruined his career,’ she says
A Hong Kong court has handed down a 4½-year jail sentence to a trumpeter formerly with one of the city’s leading orchestras for possessing explosives and offensive weapons after more than 10kg (22lbs) of chemical substances were found in a rented storage unit.
Judge Adriana Noelle Tse Ching on Friday said 33-year-old Man Hay was a promising musician but ruined his career by stockpiling such a large quantity of explosives to create a “mini-arsenal”.
The District Court heard the defendant had been a trumpeter with the Hong Kong Sinfonietta and received multiple scholarships to attend the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts and the United Kingdom’s Royal College of Music.
“The defendant was well educated and the future looked bright for this young musician. But he committed a serious offence and ruined his career,” the judge said as she handed down the sentence.
Man earlier pleaded guilty to a count of possessing explosives and another for keeping offensive weapons over the discovery of the prohibited items at the rented storage unit in Hung Hom on September 2, 2022.
A police raid that day uncovered more than 10kg of chemicals, including potassium nitrate and oxidising agents.
A report from the force’s explosive ordnance disposal bureau said the chemicals could be used to make bombs capable of causing serious injuries and property damage.
Tse cited precedents established in past cases and said the court must impose a deterrent sentence to “reflect the gravity and criminality” of possessing explosives, an offence which is punishable by up to 14 years in jail.
The judge said the only possible explanation for stockpiling such quantities of explosive materials was to commit a crime.
Tse noted police had also found a large number of items associated with the 2019 anti-government demonstrations, such as gas masks, helmets and metal rods.
“But the prosecution had chosen to omit such findings and that has diminished the defendant’s responsibility,” she added.
The judge said a heavier penalty could have been imposed as such items constituted an aggravating factor in sentencing. Tse also ordered a copy of the judgment to be forwarded to Hong Kong’s secretary for justice.
She stressed before passing the sentence that the defendant’s timely plea was the only mitigating factor, opting to reduce his jail time by a third.
But Tse rejected the defence’s earlier argument that Man had volunteered to teach his fellow inmates music while being held in custody, saying she would not consider it to be a mitigating factor.
“He was only showing remorse because his offence was exposed,” she said, arguing such actions were superficial.
The judge said the defendant also never explained why he had stored the explosives and other items.
Tse started Man’s sentence at six years’ jail time for the charge of possessing explosives, before applying the reduction. She ordered the six months in prison for the second charge to run consecutively.
