Hong Kong protests: axe-carrying security guard jailed for a year after being caught with weapons by police
- Lau Ka-chun claimed he was given an axe, a machete, a dagger and a military knife to hold ‘as a favour’
- Police arrested the 26-year-old during protest in Yuen Long
A security guard in Hong Kong has been jailed for one year by a court, after he was caught carrying three knives and an axe “as a favour” during an anti-government protest three months ago.
Lau Ka-chun, 26, pleaded guilty to one count of possessing offensive weapons in a public place, after he was found in possession of a dagger, an axe, a machete, and a military knife in Yuen Long on September 21.
His lawyer Jessica Chan Wing-yin told Tuen Mun Court her client did not own the weapons, but instead kept them for a protester temporarily to “do him a favour”. She said no fingerprints had been found on the dangerous items seized.
But acting Principal Magistrate Cheung Kit-yee did not believe that argument, and said Lau could have handled the weapons using gloves or a cloth. She said the defendant might have used the weapons if necessary.
The sentence was by far the heaviest handed down in protest-related proceedings since the anti-government movement swept Hong Kong in June.