A Hong Kong bus driver was ordered on Tuesday to perform 100 hours of community service for swerving his double-decker toward a police officer during a mass protest last year against Beijing’s repression.

Cheung Ho-yin showed remorse over the way he drove on Sept. 6 last year and would be automatically suspended from driving under a point system, Kowloon City Magistrate Ada Yim said in sentencing.

Cheung, 37, was earlier convicted of careless driving, after the magistrate changed the charge he originally faced from one of dangerous driving.

He was behind the wheel of a New World First Bus double-decker on route 970 that veered near a police officer on Nathan Road in Jordan on the day of the offense, the Kowloon City Magistrates’ Court heard during the trial.

Many Hongkongers were taking to the streets in Jordan and other Kowloon areas that day to protest Beijing’s imposition of a national security in Hong Kong and the city’s postponement of a legislative election for one year.

Police sergeant Cheung Kai-on had testified that the route 970 bus came dangerously close to him.

Cheung Kai-on, the younger brother of television actor Louis Cheung, also said its driver honked his horn and raised his middle fingers at him. The sergeant dismissed suggestions in court that the hand gestures were the reason for him to accuse the driver of dangerous driving.

Shortly after the bus driver’s arrest on Sept. 6, police had alleged dangerous driving, saying his vehicle was moving at a high speed toward officers on a roadside.

The force then laid an additional charge of possessing an offensive weapon against the driver after a wrench was found in his bag. This charge was later dropped.

Click here for Chinese version

---------------------------------

Apple Daily’s all-new English Edition is now available on the mobile app: bit.ly/2yMMfQE

To download the latest version,

iOS: bit.ly/AD_iOS

Android: bit.ly/AD_android

Or search Appledaily in App Store or Google Play