A teenager and two men have been jailed for up to four years for rioting in a Sha Tin shopping mall last July during an anti-government protest.

Lee Man-him, 17, was sentenced to three years and four months, while security guard Kung Chi-yuen, 51 and Leung Pak-tim, 24 were both handed four-year jail terms on Thursday.

The three were charged with rioting after they attacked two police officers with umbrellas, including kicking and assaulting them during a protest that turned ugly at Sha Tin New Town Plaza on July 14 last year. The teenager pleaded guilty to one count of rioting, while the other two each admitted to two counts of the same charge.

District judge Amanda Woodcock said in determining the length of their sentences, the degree of violence and not only the degree of participation should be taken into consideration, adding that a deterrent sentence was needed for this case.

During the assault, detective constable Cheung Lik-hang was punched, kicked and jabbed with umbrellas as he was surrounded by some 20 protesters including the accused trio, the prosecution earlier revealed. He sustained multiple fractures to his eye socket and nose, resulting in double vision.

The other police officer, Andy Kwok, who tried to come to Cheung’s aid, fell backwards from an escalator and was also kicked, hit and attacked by protesters wielding umbrellas.

Cheung was seriously injured in the assault and his eye injury meant he has been unable to drive or return to work on the front line, Woodcock said. The attack had ruined his career as a police officer at the age of 31, she added.

Kwok was fortunate to avoid serious injury as journalists and bystanders had stepped in to help before the situation spiraled further out of control, she said.

Leung, the 24-year-old defendant, was previously jailed for 42 months in 2016 for drug trafficking while the other two did not have criminal records.

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