Son of retired cop jailed six years for arson over anti-national security law protest
A 20-year-old student, who is also the son of a retired police officer, was on Wednesday sentenced to six-year imprisonment for setting fire outside a Maxim’s Cakes in Causeway Bay during an anti-national security law protest three years ago.
The defendant Ryan Wong Tsz-tsun appeared before judge Adriana Tse Ching in District Court today.
He had earlier pleaded not guilty but were convicted of two counts of arson, a count of possessing instrument with intent to damage property, and a count of theft.
The arson charges alleged Wong of setting fire to debris outside the cake shop on Percival Street and at an intersection between Foo Ming Street and Percival Street on July 1, 2020.
Wong was also caught possessing three Molotov cocktails and a lighter; and allegedly stole a plastic bag with the word “police” on it.
Passing down the sentence, Tse Ching disagreed with the defense that Wong’s crime didn’t cause serious property damage and losses.
The judge also criticized Wong for plotting the arson beforehand as he carried the Molotov cocktails on him, and for avenging Maxim’s Cakes because of its different political stand. She added that Wong set fire in one of Hong Kong’s busiest commercial and residential area, which called for a heftier sentence.
Tse Ching continued that Wong pleaded not guilty and wasted the court’s time by overly challenging the identification process in a video submitted by the prosecution.
The judge also blasted Wong for making up “one lie after another” when the court was retrieving a background report for him, which said he suffered depression and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; but the judge noted it had nothing to do with his crime.
Tse Ching then sentenced Wong to six-year imprisonment, citing the serious nature of the case in which Wong joined others to avenge shops with a different political stand.
In earlier court sessions, Wong’s father was revealed to be a retired police officer and his mother a legal consultant.