Hong Kong protests: 2 teens acquitted of manslaughter over janitor’s death but found guilty of rioting

Two teenagers have been acquitted of manslaughter for their roles in an elderly janitor’s death during an anti-government protest in Hong Kong almost three years ago.

A High Court jury cleared student Chan Yin-ting, 18, and jobless Kelvin Lau Tsz-lung, 19, over the death of 70-year-old Luo Changqing by a unanimous vote after six hours of closed-door deliberations on Tuesday.

While the panel comprising two men and five women found the pair guilty of taking part in a riot, it cleared them of another count of wounding a 61-year-old man with intent in Sheung Shui on November 13, 2019.

Chan and Lau, who were 15 and 16 respectively at the time of the incident, were the first defendants to stand trial before a jury on charges directly stemming from the social unrest, sparked by a now-withdrawn extradition bill.

The month-long trial heard that Luo suffered a blow to the forehead by a flying brick while filming a morning skirmish between a group of mostly black-clad protesters seeking to paralyse traffic outside Sheung Shui railway station and residents attempting to clear the obstacles on the roads.

The cleaner sustained fatal head injuries after falling backwards upon the impact. He was certified dead in hospital the next day.

The other elderly man, only identified as X in the trial, was hit in the left eye by another brick before protesters attacked him while his vision became blurry.

Prosecutors had sought to hold the two teens liable for the more serious charge of murder, saying that even though they did not deliver the fatal blow, they were as culpable as the real assailant based on the legal principle of joint enterprise.