Hong Kong protests: copywriter jailed for 31 months, fined HK$1,000 after throwing metal post at police from third floor of shopping centre
- Advertising copywriter Yeung Ying-hei is jailed for 31 months, fined HK$1,000 after hurling a 6.8kg stanchion at police from the third floor of the Times Square shopping centre
- A 26-year-old bank clerk was jailed for 3½ years in a separate incident for helping to vandalise stores in Hung Hom, including two eateries operated by Maxim’s Group
Advertising copywriter Yeung Ying-hei was also fined HK$1,000 (US$128) on Thursday for damaging the stanchion she stole from a cake store at Causeway Bay’s Times Square which she threw from the third to second floor on July 1, 2020.
District Court Judge Stanley Chan Kwong-chi said the sentence was a necessary deterrent to prevent copycat behaviour and reflected the gravity of attacking law enforcement officers.
The protest was held on the anniversary of the city’s return to Chinese sovereignty and a day after the Beijing-imposed security law took effect. Staging such a demonstration during this significant moment, Chan said, was an attack on the government’s authority.
The judge also slammed the defendant for refusing to plead for leniency after her conviction, saying her unyielding attitude was a show of defiance and indicated a lack of remorse.
“The defendant believes she can earn applause with her unwavering spirit. This is utterly flawed and wishful thinking,” Chan said.
Thousands of protesters defied the ban to express their discontent with the security law, which prohibits acts of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces.
The court heard that riot police entered the shopping centre’s second floor after receiving reports of falling objects. Soon after, a stanchion from a retractable belt barrier was thrown from the building’s third floor and almost hit a chief inspector and sergeant below.
Neither officers were injured in the incident, but the falling stanchion broke a digital signboard and cost the mall operator HK$4,700 to repair.
Chan jailed Yeung for 2½ years for attempted wounding with intent and dropping an object from a building, before adding an extra month to her overall sentence for theft.
He also ordered Yeung to pay compensation within three months of the ruling, although the cake shop stated it would not seek damages from the defendant.
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In a separate case, a 26-year-old bank clerk was jailed for 3½ years for rioting in a residential area in 2019.
Chung Ji-hin was convicted at the District Court last month after he was spotted carrying a brick during a protest in Hung Hom on December 1 of that year.
Demonstrators blocked roads and trashed shops on Tak Hong Street at around 8pm, including a Genki Sushi and Yoshinoya. Both were operated by catering giant Maxim’s Group, a frequent target during the social unrest after its founder’s daughter Annie Wu Suk-ching criticised protesters.
Judge Frankie Yiu Fun-che said both restaurants were heavily vandalised in the disturbance, which also seriously disrupted traffic, but accepted Chung did not assume a leading role and the protest did not result in serious injuries.
