57-month jail term for Hong Kong protester who set taxi on fire in Mong Kok riot

The rioter who set fire to a taxi and became the first to be convicted of arson over the violent clashes between protesters and police in Mong Kok last year was jailed on Monday for four years and nine months.

Judge Anthony Kwok Kai-on said he hoped the sentence – the toughest so far over the riot – would deter young radicals from violence, and warned that those who defied the law would pay a heavy price.

“Law breaking is a road of no return,” he told a full house in the District Court. “One has to be brave in facing the legal consequences after demonstrating the same courage in challenging authority and the law.”