An illegal hawker and his female assistant have been sentenced to jail for obstructing the Food & Environmental Hygiene Department's officers in exercising their duties during a raid on illegal hawkers.

The Eastern Magistrate's Court heard that the man was found selling clothes in Battery Path, Central, on October 24. The man and his assistant attacked the departmental officers during the arrest.

The two were sentenced to three weeks' imprisonment for obstructing public officers in performing their duties. The man was also fined $300 and had commodities confiscated for unlicensed hawking.

The department reminded the public that resorting to force to avoid penalty carried serious legal consequences.