Hong Kong teen first to plead guilty in Mong Kok riot case
He admits to throwing brick at police officer during clashes in February, injuring the constable’s knee, and faces sentencing on January 9
A McDonald’s worker, who threw a brick at a police constable in February during the Mong Kok riot, was the first among those who have faced the court over the clashes to plead guilty in court on Monday.
Chan Ho-man, 17, admitted to hurling a palm-sized brick at a uniformed police officer, causing the officer’s left knee to bleed, at the junction between Nathan Road and Shantung Street in the early hours of February 9. He pleaded guilty to one count of assault causing actual bodily harm at the Kowloon City Court.
The clashes caused fires and damage to police vehicles in Mong Kok, one of Hong Kong’s busiest shopping hubs, at the start of the Lunar New Year. Chan was originally charged with wounding, but it was reduced to a lesser one later.
A long list of defendants will face the High Court and District Court next year and in 2018 over various charges, including rioting.
On Monday, the court heard that the police constable had arrived at the scene that day to disperse a growing crowd on Nathan Road. It was told that the defendant then broke away from the crowd and darted towards him, throwing a 5cm by 6cm by 10cm brick from about 10 metres away. The brick hit the constable and resulted in pain as his knee began to bleed.
