Mong Kok riot judge references Vietnamese boatpeople attack in Hong Kong in 1989
Judge Sham Siu-man says scale of violence at Mong Kok riot was as severe as attack on small hut by Vietnamese boatpeople in Whitehead detention centre
The scale of violence seen at the Mong Kok riot last year was as severe as the attack on a small hut by Vietnamese boatpeople in Whitehead detention centre in 1989, a judge found.
The District Court heard that some 20 Vietnamese boatpeople attacked the occupants of a small hut at Whitehead in the small hours of September 27, 1989.
They attempted to force their way in while armed with iron pipes and wooden poles, hurling objects at the hut as they advanced, while their intended victims were forced to barricade themselves inside.
The cause of conflict was rivalry between people from two areas in Vietnam.
No one was severely injured due to the timely arrival of the police, but the Court of Appeal found five years was a suitable term for conviction after trial.