The defendant Tong Kin-fung was charged with possessing offensive weapons in public for keeping two laser pointers, a trekking pole and an umbrella between Fife Street and Nathan Road on September 8, 2019.

Tong had earlier pleaded not guilty and he appeared before magistrate Jacky Ip Kai-leung at the Kowloon City Court today as Ip convicted him of the charge.

Delivering the verdict, Ip said many parts in Tong's testimony didn't make sense and contradicted with one another. Ip also rejected Tong's statement that he originally had plans to go hiking but went to Mong Kok for shopping instead because of the rain.

Ip recalled how Tong claimed he bought the trekking pole back in 2018 during cross-examination, but was found by the prosecution that the pole was manufactured in June 2019.

Tong later told the court that the trekking pole he brought to the protest scene was borrowed from a friend, and the one that he kept at home was bought in 2018.

Ip also noted that Tong expected confrontations and was going to use the laser pointers as a weapon, after having considered Tong's position and the items he was carrying at the time of his arrest.

Ip then ruled Tong guilty and handed down an eight-month term without giving any deduction.