Mong Kok riot: Woman gets 46 months in prison

A 24-year-old woman currently under trial for assaulting a mainland reporter in mid-August was sentenced to 46 months in prison on Tuesday on two charges of rioting in Mong Kok three years ago.

Pat Wai-fun was convicted in District Court in early November of helping protesters dig up bricks, and of tossing paper boxes into a fire during the Lunar New Year unrest.

In February 2016, city officials tried to shut down a night food market in Mong Kok, one of Hong Kong's busiest districts, and radical protesters hurled bottles and garbage cans at police officers and pulled bricks from the pavement to use as weapons.

Dismissing a request for probation from Pat's lawyer, who said Pat is intellectually disabled, judge Lin Kam-hung said the defendant arrived equipped at the scene before violence escalated, and was thus aware of what she was about to do.

Lin said it would likely send the wrong message if anyone participating in street violence is sentenced to probation if the court accepts the lawyer's and the psychologist's requests, which would also undermine the deterrence effect.

The judge did not rule out the possibility that Pat was seeking a sense of identity and presence by participating in unlawful activities, including the "Occupy" movement in 2014, as she was marginalized by mainstream of Hong Kong society due to her language and intelligence difficulties.

Every person is entitled to pursue democracy, freedom and social justice, but this is not an excuse to override other residents' livelihoods or ask for leniency, he said when announcing the sentence.

After the sentencing, a police spokesman said this case is a reminder to members of the public that resorting to violence to express dissatisfaction is not acceptable in Hong Kong, and anyone who does so will be held accountable.

Pat also is accused of assaulting and detaining a reporter from the Chinese mainland during an anti-government protest at the Hong Kong airport in mid-August. She was denied release on bail in Oct and will appear in court again in that case on Jan 21.