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A 31-year-old part-time fitness coach who threatened to bomb Admiralty MTR station during a match of the online video game League of Legends was sentenced to nine months in prison on Friday at Eastern Magistrates' Courts.
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Chung Chi-long had pleaded not guilty to one count of threatening to destroy or damage property.
Magistrate Gary Chu Man-hon rejected the defendant’s claims that the messages were an unthinking burst of anger triggered by in-game taunts, finding that the sequential and coherent nature of the threats demonstrated deliberate thought.
Messages sent during online match promised holiday blast
The court heard that on January 27, Chung sent three successive text messages to another player during a League of Legends match, warning that he was preparing to blow up the subway on the first day of the Lunar New Year, specifying Admiralty station, and telling the recipient to remember to watch the news.
Chung was charged with making a threat without lawful excuse to destroy or damage Admiralty station on February 17, 2026, with the intention of causing others to fear that the threat would be carried out.
Testifying in his own defense during trial, Chung claimed that he had been verbally provoked and insulted by another player surnamed Wong.
He told the court that he had reacted in an agitated state, typing nonsense in rapid succession purely to vent his emotions.
He maintained that statements made inside online games were never taken seriously by players and that he had possessed no intention of executing the act.
Magistrate rejects emotional outburst defense as contrary to reason
Delivering the verdict, Magistrate Chu pointed out that the three messages were objectively coherent and built upon one another, conveying an unambiguous warning that a bombing would occur at Admiralty station during a major public holiday.
The magistrate observed that the messages were transmitted with intervals of several dozen seconds between them, indicating that Chung had paused to reflect before sending each line.
Consequently, the court rejected the contention that the words were emitted in a single unthinking, rapid-fire outburst.
Magistrate Chu also cast doubt on Chung's credibility regarding subsequent interactions with the other player.
While Chung testified that the player had messaged him threatening to make his life miserable after taking screenshots of the conversation, Chung failed to preserve any records or logs of those hostile messages. The magistrate found this explanation contrary to common sense and concluded that Chung had not told the whole truth.
High-traffic interchange and police mobilization warrant immediate custody
In mitigation, the defense noted that Chung had a clean record and had lost his previous employment as a Hospital Authority ward assistant as a result of the proceedings.
Counsel argued that police had discovered no explosives or related materials during their investigation, that public impact remained limited, and that Chung had uninstalled the game and learned a profound lesson, requesting a non-custodial disposal or a suspended sentence.
Magistrate Chu rejected a non-custodial option, highlighting that the offense carried a maximum penalty of 10 years' imprisonment and that legislative intent demanded a deterrent response.
The magistrate emphasized that Admiralty station served as a critical transit hub connecting passengers across Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, and the New Territories, meaning that threats of an explosion risked provoking widespread panic.
Furthermore, because the threat specified the first day of the Lunar New Year, law enforcement officers were forced to treat the matter with exceptional gravity and commit substantial resources to preventative searches.
Ruling that immediate imprisonment was the only appropriate sentence, the magistrate ordered Chung to serve nine months behind bars.
