Hong Kong protests: student sent to rehabilitation centre for trashing Chinese teahouse last year
- Court of Appeal imposes custodial sentence on Chow Kin-nok over his role in trashing Heytea branch in New Town Plaza on May 13, 2020
- He was originally given 200 hours of community service at Sha Tin Court, but the High Court found that sentence was ‘manifestly inadequate’
A Hong Kong student has been sent to a rehabilitation centre for trashing a local branch of a Chinese teahouse chain last year after the High Court found his original sentence of community service “manifestly inadequate”.
The Court of Appeal on Friday imposed a custodial sentence on Chow Kin-nok, 17, on a criminal damage charge he admitted over his role in breaking three machines at Heytea in New Town Plaza on May 13, 2020.
At the time of the incident, protesters had gathered in shopping malls across the city, heeding online calls to “celebrate” the birthday of Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor.
The damage to two cash registers and an Octopus card electronic payment processor had cost the shop HK$15,200 (US$1,956).
Chow was originally given 200 hours of community service by acting principal magistrate Jason Wan Siu-ming of Sha Tin Court.
But the order was set aside last month when three judges sided with prosecutors in a sentencing review and agreed that Wan had erred in principle and imposed a “manifestly inadequate” sentence.
