A 26-year-old waiter has been sentenced to two years and 10 months behind bars for throwing a piece of brick and shaking a road sign during the Mong Kok unrest in February 2016.
Defendant Tang Ho-yin was accused of hurling an object towards the police at the cordon lines on Shandong Street, Mong Kok.
He earlier admitted to rioting and was handed a jail sentence at the District Court on Wednesday.
The protests broke out over Chinese New Year two years ago, when demonstrators became angered at authorities’ attempts to clear street hawkers.
In his ruling, Judge Eddie Yip noted that Tang suffered from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. He accepted that Tang’s actions were made on a whim, as he did not wear a cap or a face mask, indicating that his participation was not premeditated.
However, the judge also said that Tang took part in fanning the riots by insulting and intimidating the police and should bear responsibility for the incident, RTHK reported.
In a separate high profile trial over the unrest, localist Edward Leung pleaded guilty to assaulting a police officer but denied three rioting charges. The cases of Leung and several others are currently being heard in the High Court, where they could face up to 10 years in prison.
