Judge upholds man's six-month jail sentence for fire threat during Mong Kok protests
PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 11 February, 2015, 2:18am
UPDATED : Wednesday, 11 February, 2015, 2:18am
Julie Chu [email protected]
Judge upholds man's six-month jail sentence for fire threat during Mong Kok protests
A High Court judge yesterday upheld the six-month prison sentence imposed on a man who threatened to set fire to pro- democracy demonstrators in Mong Kok during last year's Occupy protests.
Mrs Justice Judianna Barnes Wai-ling told Ma Hei-yuk, 45, that using violence to express anger would not be tolerated.
The judge said while she could understand that Ma and many other citizens had their lives disrupted by the political movement, that was no excuse to commit a violent crime.
"If everyone claimed he was affected, then he could do whatever he wanted, and if the court showed leniency to him, it would become a very serious matter," she said.
Ma, who was born on the mainland and is now a Hong Kong resident, admitted he was angry that protesters had defied a court injunction and continued their occupation of the main road in Mong Kok.
After travelling from his home in Tin Shiu Wai on October 22, Ma threw three bottles of paint thinner on the ground at the protest site and held a lighter in his hand, claiming he wanted to "die together" with the protesters.
At Kowloon City Court in December, Ma pleaded guilty to one count of behaving in a disorderly manner in a public place and was jailed for six months.
Ma told the court he suffered a lot over the case and had lost his job as a security guard. His 14-year-old daughter, who supported the protesters, also turned against him and they still had not mended their relationship.
But the judge said many families were facing similar problems and that differences between him and his daughter could not be used as mitigation.
She said that what Ma had done was very dangerous and it was "lucky" that no one got hurt. "He committed the crime just because he wanted to express his dislike [of another political view]," she added.
In upholding the sentence, the judge said if the court did not send a clear message to the public, it would encourage other people to use violence to express their discontent.
