Hong Kong secondary school students sentenced to training centre for 2020 arson attack at police station, assaulting officers
- Tsang Wa-kwan, 19, and Lo Nip-fung, 20, could have faced more than three years’ jail, but District Court judge takes age, remorse, time in remand into account
- The duo’s attack in the early hours of April 1, 2020, left scorch marks on the wall surrounding the precinct as well as its front gate
Two Hong Kong secondary school students who threw flaming objects against the wall of a police station and assaulted two police officers last year have been placed in a training centre.
Tsang Wa-kwan, 19, and Lo Nip-fung, 20, were arrested immediately after the incident outside the New Territories North Regional Police Headquarters, which also serves as the Tai Po Police Station, in the early hours of April 1, 2020.
The District Court heard that five burning objects were hurled towards the building’s open-air car park, landing some distance from a police constable – identified only by his number, 26719 – where they burned out within a minute.
The constable was not injured and the fire did not spread, though it caused scorch marks on the wall surrounding the precinct as well as its front gate.
A third arsonist was said to have escaped.
Tsang and Lo later admitted to assaulting two other officers and damaging the wall and gate, but denied recklessly endangering the constable’s life with the fire.
They were each convicted of one count of assaulting a police officer in the due execution of his duty and another of arson with intent, on the basis that they had damaged government property.
