A Hong Kong court has jailed a social worker for three years and nine months in a rioting retrial over her involvement in an anti-government protest in 2019, after giving a 10-month discount in acknowledgement of what she went through from acquittal to conviction in lengthy legal proceedings.

Deputy District Judge May Chung Ming-sun on Wednesday said in sentencing that Jackie Chen Hung-sau, 48, was present with multiple microphones and a loudspeaker on Hennessy Road and Luard Road in Wan Chai on the night of August 31, 2019, showing her intent to participate in the riot.

She was among the estimated 500 people gathered in the vicinity, with some throwing petrol bombs and glass bottles at police officers, as well as shouting slogans and blocking roads.

In September 2020, the veteran social worker was acquitted midway through the original trial after a judge found she had no case to answer. Three other defendants in the same case were also found not guilty.

But the Department of Justice appealed against their acquittals the following year and won the appeal in 2023, resulting in the four being brought back to court for a retrial last year.

Chen pleaded not guilty during the retrial last year, while the other three – tutor Lai Pui-ki, programmer Chung Ka-nang, and chef Jason Gung Tsz Shun – admitted to a count of rioting.