Former Hong Kong auxiliary policeman jailed for ‘stupid and reckless’ Legco arson attack

Joe Yeung Yat-long was convicted of conspiracy to commit arson after the blaze outside the Legislative Council complex in December 2015

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Yeung Yat-long (centre) appears at District Court in Wan Chai. Photo: Nora Tam

Published: 1:50pm, 22 Mar 2017Updated: 10:52pm, 22 Mar 2017

A former Hong Kong auxiliary policeman, who quit the force following the 2014 Occupy protests, was jailed for two years on Wednesday for setting fire to a bin outside the city’s Legislative Council complex.

Joe Yeung Yat-long, who was also a former president of the Shue Yan University’s student union, was earlier found guilty at the District Court of one count of conspiracy to commit arson. He was involved in setting fire to the rubbish bin on December 9, 2015, while legislators debated the controversial Copyright (Amendment) Bill 2014, which some worried would restrict freedom of speech.

Handing down what she stressed was a deterrent sentence, deputy judge Lily Wong Sze-lai said the offence was serious in that the premeditated plot could have inflicted injuries to people in the vicinity and more serious economic loss. It was lucky that no one was injured, she said.

“No matter how noble one’s cause is, one should not resort to illegal means to express his or her demands,” she said, adding she needed to stop copycat behaviour. “No one is above the law.”

His co-defendant, Ip Cheuk-yin, 21, who admitted acting as lookout and pleaded guilty to the same charge early this year, was sent to a training centre to receive “rigorous” training.