Hong Kong protests: student sent to rehabilitation centre for trashing Chinese teahouse last year
- Court of Appeal imposes custodial sentence on Chow Kin-nok over his role in trashing Heytea branch in New Town Plaza on May 13, 2020
- He was originally given 200 hours of community service at Sha Tin Court, but the High Court found that sentence was ‘manifestly inadequate’
A Hong Kong student has been sent to a rehabilitation centre for trashing a local branch of a Chinese teahouse chain last year after the High Court found his original sentence of community service “manifestly inadequate”.
The Court of Appeal on Friday imposed a custodial sentence on Chow Kin-nok, 17, on a criminal damage charge he admitted over his role in breaking three machines at Heytea in New Town Plaza on May 13, 2020.
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At the time of the incident, protesters had gathered in shopping malls across the city, heeding online calls to “celebrate” the birthday of Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor.
The damage to two cash registers and an Octopus card electronic payment processor had cost the shop HK$15,200 (US$1,956).
Chow was originally given 200 hours of community service by acting principal magistrate Jason Wan Siu-ming of Sha Tin Court.
But the order was set aside last month when three judges sided with prosecutors in a sentencing review and agreed that Wan had erred in principle and imposed a “manifestly inadequate” sentence.
The higher court said a custodial sentence with an element of rehabilitation was most appropriate in the case, and considered the options of a training centre, a detention centre and a rehabilitation centre.
Rehabilitation centres are reserved for those aged between 14 and 20, who are not suitable for a training or detention centre, but require a short custodial sentence, for the purpose of rehabilitation and deterring further criminal conduct.
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Prosecutors have argued that the case was serious and urged the court to impose a deterrent sentence to send a message to the public that such vandalism was unacceptable, as it would affect Hong Kong’s business environment.
They also noted that Wan had only called for reports to assess the defendant’s suitability for probation and community service, but not the custodial alternatives, which limited the sentencing options.
Chow’s lawyers countered that he played only a small role in this spontaneous incident, and that his offence was not the worst of its kind in terms of criminal damage.
Criminal damage is punishable by 10 years in prison, but that term is capped at two years when the case is heard at the entry-level court before a magistrate.
The three judges are Madam Justice Maggie Poon Man-kay, Mr Justice Derek Pang Wai-cheong, and the chief judge of the High Court, Mr Justice Jeremy Poon Shiu-chor.
