A woman on Saturday was sentenced to a year-and-a-half in prison after being found guilty of possessing a pair of pliers and lighter fuel during a protest in 2019.

Kwok Hoi-ying, 20, had earlier been acquitted of rioting and using a facial covering on November 18 of that year, when protesters clashed with police while attempting to head to Polytechnic University.

But the District Court convicted her of possessing tools that are fit for unlawful purposes and with intent to destroy, or damage, property.

The court had heard that, after police officers arrested the defendant in an alley in Yau Ma Tei, they seized the pair of pliers and lighter fuel from her backpack.