A man was on Monday sentenced to 16 months in jail for inciting to kill then Chief Executive Carrie Lam four years ago.

Pun Tak-shu, a 64-year-old retiree, was found guilty of incitement to cause grievous bodily harm with intent over his Facebook post discussing how to kill Lam in 2020.

He earlier pleaded not guilty.

In mitigation, the defence said Pun made the post "just for fun" and not when violence in the city was at its worst, adding that he had deleted the post after he was arrested.

The court was also told that Pun has had lung problems and needs medical treatment.

But District Judge Stanley Chan said the post intensified conflicts and had an inciting effect. He said many people were affected by the political atmosphere at the time and might have heeded his call.

The court set the starting point for Pun’s prison term at 18 months, then deducted two months considering his health and the fact that he generally agreed with the case presented by the prosecution.