A Hong Kong businessman has become the 10th person to be sentenced for taking part in a riot with a white-clad mob that attacked protesters and commuters at a Yuen Long railway station at the height of social unrest in 2019.

Deputy District Judge Amy Chan Wai-mun on Tuesday also asked the defense lawyer for Tang Ka-man, 46, to hear from his client why a group of men in white shirts launched an attack on plainclothes civilians in black on a july night. 21 at the MTR station.

Evidence revealed in court showed that some members of the group dressed in white held foam boards with the slogans “Defend Yuen Long, defend our home”.

Chan said he did not understand why the white-clad group would suddenly head towards the station and use sticks to attack people.

“I want to know why they had to hit those wearing black blouses and where the slogan boards came from,” she said.

The judge found in the footage that Tang was holding a rattan stick and sitting in the front row of the white-clad group when the clashes took place.