A Hong Kong protester has been found guilty of assaulting a Chinese police inspector by hitting him with her breast, local media have reported.

Ng Lai-ying, 30, who works at a shipping company, was accused yesterday of using her chest to knock into the right arm of Chief Inspector Chan Ka-po, who was attempting to control a chaotic protest against cross-border traders in Yuen Long, Hong Kong on 1 March.

Lai-ying’s boyfriend, Kwong Chung-lung, 20, and university student Poon Tsz-hang, 22, were also found guilty of obstructing police officers and a 14-year-old pupil was found guilty of hitting Ka-po in the chest with their shoulder while the Inspector was urging protesters to move from the roadway to the pavement.

All four defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges against them.

According to the South China Morning Post, Lai-ying said in court that Ka-po had stretched out his arm to reach the strap of her shoulder bag causing his hand to touch the upper part of her left breast to which Lai-ying shouted “indecent assault.”

However, the magistrate, Michael Chan Pik-kiu, rejected her claim that the inspector had molested her and reportedly said: “You used your female identity to trump up the allegation that the officer had molested you. This is a malicious act.” He also added that it had caused great harm to the officer’s reputation.

Magistrate Pik-kiu stated that it was the police’s role to maintain law and order in a protest.

He said: ”There were two groups of people expressing different points of view at the protest. Without police officers there to maintain order, it is not surprising that there was commotion, or even clashes.“