Hong Kong student, 22, jailed for 10 months for inciting copycat attacks on police after July 1 officer stabbing
- Yip Sin-man was one of three suspects arrested over online remarks in aftermath of 2021 attack
- She had said there was something to learn from lone assailant who killed himself after stabbing officer in back in Causeway Bay
A 22-year-old student in Hong Kong was on Wednesday jailed for 10 months for inciting others to commit copycat attacks on police after an officer was stabbed while on duty two years ago.
Yip Sin-man returned to the District Court to be sentenced on a charge of incitement to wound with intent, over provocative statements she had issued on three social media platforms.
Judge Adriana Noelle Tse Ching said Yip had intentionally challenged police’s authority and flouted the law despite knowing what she did was illegal.
She slammed Yip for attempting to incite hatred towards police and promote more radical actions by taking advantage of the volatile environment in society after the knife attack on July 1, 2021.
“In such a social context, the defendant exacerbated the risk of disorder by encouraging others to assault police using arms and other violent means,” the judge said.
Yip was just a month away from receiving a hotel management diploma when she pleaded guilty to the offence last month. She is now on one year’s leave from school to serve her sentence.
She was one of three defendants arrested over remarks made online soon after the 2021 attack, in which a 50-year-old man stabbed a constable in the back before killing himself.
