Hong Kong protests: jail for driver who ploughed through police cordon during Polytechnic University mayhem

A construction worker has been jailed for dangerous driving and other motoring offences in relation to the violence in and around Polytechnic University last November. Photo: Sam Tsang

A driver who ploughed through a police roadblock outside Polytechnic University leading officers to open fire during some of the worst violence of last year’s anti-government protests in Hong Kong was jailed for more than five months on Friday.

Construction worker Tong Cheong-lung, 28, broke the police cordon outside the university in Hung Hom on the night of November 17, when officers started barricading the campus in an area that had descended into a major battleground between riot police and hard-core protesters.

Prosecutors told Kowloon City Court that Tong was driving a white Volkswagen eastbound along Austin Road towards the university, when he charged through the police line near Austin Avenue.

After making a U-turn and stopping the car on the westbound lane for police questioning, he suddenly accelerated in an attempt to flee, almost hitting an officer.

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An officer standing nearby then fired a live round at the vehicle, hitting its windscreen. The officer who was nearly hit also fired a rubber-bullet round at Tong, but missed. Tong fled the scene and nobody was injured.

It was later found that Tong had sold the Volkswagen before the offence, but borrowed the car from the new owner, saying he could install new parts for him.

Police eventually found Tong in Mong Kok on December 2, after an online search revealed he had sold another private car in the area. Police further discovered that he only had a learner’s driving licence that expired in 2014.