Community service order for reporter who resisted cop

A Kowloon City magistrate on Saturday sentenced a reporter to 240 hours of community service for resisting a police officer, after she had mistakenly suspended the defendant’s prison sentence last month.

Reporter Ho Ka-yan, who works for the online news outlet Ben Yu Entertainment, was arrested in a public toilet on Sai Yee Street while she was covering a protest in Mong Kok on May 11 last year.

She had alleged that officers had kneeled on her neck to restrain her, and had also kicked her in the back. She said they had pepper-sprayed her at close range, causing her to pass out.

Principal magistrate Ada Yim noted Ho’s background report suggested she had difficulty controlling her emotions and this might be problematic for organisations that take part in community service.

She ordered Ho to attend regular psychological check-ups and emotional control counselling.

In June, Yim had originally sentenced Ho to four-weeks in prison, suspended for two years. But shortly afterwards Yim retracted her decision after realising the sentence for the offence couldn’t be suspended.