Man convicted of rioting and wounding in July 21 Yuen Long attack
Local | 7 Sep 2022 2:49 pm
A 63-year-old man was on Wednesday convicted on charges of taking part in a riot and conspiracy to wound with intent in connection with the overnight violence at Yuen Long MTR station between July 21 and 22, 2019.
West Kowloon Court deputy judge Newman Wong Hing-wai found the man - Ching Wai-ming, guilty after identifying him among a white-clad group of men wielding iron poles and rattan sticks at Yuen Long MTR station during the attack.
The incident in 2019 saw around 100 attackers, clad in white t-shirts, storming the station that night and indiscriminately attacking at least 45 bystanders and passengers at the station.
Ching will be remanded in custody until sentencing on October 27.
Handing down his judgment, the judge said Ching was seen in a white top and assembling with other assailants near the station at Fung Yau Street North Sitting-Out Area that evening before he stormed the station at around 11pm and assaulted at least two people with his fist and rattan sticks.
Wong said Ching and other white-clad men’s actions that day showed that the acts of riot and wounding were premeditated and that the only reasonable inference for the court was that the white-clad men intended to wound people that day.
However, the judge noted that Ching had not wielded any weapons when entering the station and was only seen holding a rattan stick later that day, therefore convicting him of conspiracy to wound with intent instead of wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm.
Meanwhile, on his rioting charges, the judge highlighted that the white-clad men’s actions that day were acts of riot.
He said the white-clad men’s actions against the black-clad people, slamming on facilities inside the station, and throwing water bottles and wooden sticks have obviously breached public peace.
He stressed the white-clad group initiated the attack the moment they entered the station before the people dressed in black had time to clamor and use fire hoses to spray water back at them.
Ching was identified to be present at the scene through photos and videos of that day, with the judge saying he was certain Ching had taken part in the riot that day.
The judge also pointed out that Ching had instructed people to proceed to the station’s platform to attack commuters inside a stranded train before leaving the premises alongside other white-clad men at around 11.14pm that day.
Ching is the eighth person convicted in connection with the incident, with seven others found guilty and sentenced to up to seven years in jail by another judge last year.
The Yuen Long attack in 2019 has drawn heavy criticism towards the police for their sluggish response, despite the emergency 999 hotline being flooded with calls. Officers only arrived at the scene after the mob had dispersed.
The force later described the violence as a fight between two evenly matched sides and said it should not be characterized as an indiscriminate attack.
