University student gets 40 months for rioting at Prince Edward MTR station

A student of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts was sentenced to 40 months in jail on Wednesday after he pleaded guilty to two counts of rioting at the Prince Edward and Mong Kok MTR stations on August 31 two years ago. 

The student was also the first to be convicted of rioting among other defendants involved in the August 31 Prince Edward MTR station incident.

Wan Ka-lam, 22, pleaded guilty to rioting inside the paid area of Prince Edward station and Mong Kok station, while three other charges of assault and criminal damage have been left on court file. 

Passing sentence, district judge Frankie Yiu Fun-che said Wan and the other protestors had vandalized the station’s control room, deliberately disregarded the law, and breached public peace. Yiu also said that Wan had taken a proactive role in committing the crimes on the frontline. 

The judge set a starting point of 4 years for each of the two rioting charges, reducing it by a third to 32 months due to Wan’s guilty plea. 

Yiu said considering the two charges took place in two different stations but are consecutive events, eight months from the second charge will run consecutively, totaling 40 months’ imprisonment. 

Meanwhile, Yiu pointed out that the performing arts student had ideals and ambitions in acting, hoping Wan will reflect on his own actions and repay society in the future.