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Hong Kong's leader was trapped for nearly four hours in the venue where she launched the first of her "public dialogue" meetings with protesters.

Angry protesters barred all the exits of venue, stopping the city's chief executive Carrie Lam from leaving.

Lines of police wearing riot helmets and carrying protective shields were called in as crowds gathered outside chanting anti-government and pro-democracy slogans.

Hundreds had camped outside the Queen Elizabeth Stadium in the city's commercial district as Ms Lam tried to reason, cajole and listen to 150 randomly chosen citizens inside.

The venue can hold thousands. But although more than 20,000 people applied to take part in the two-hour session, numbers were minimised for unspecified reasons.

Speaker after speaker lambasted her for ignoring the protesters and exacerbating a crisis that shows no signs of ending.

One participant told her it was easier to get chosen for the evening's debate than it was to get affordable decent housing.

Others accused her of concocting the town hall-style chat as a simple PR exercise.

Another opined: "We all know you are not in charge. So there's not much to say really."

If this was a PR exercise, it's probably time to change direction. It did not go well for Ms Lam. Tongue-lashing doesn't quite cover it. On occasion there was real disgust, much frustration, and buckets of disrespect.

Why are people protesting in Hong Kong?

Ms Lam was forced to admit she had not listened enough and trust in her government had "fallen off a cliff".

But while many Hong Kong citizens might enjoy watching a much disliked leader publicly eating copious amounts of humble pie, there are few who believe it's enough to stop the ever-violent demonstrations or restore faith in her.

Outside, the anger was palpable: the disgust and frustration on rowdy display.

They bellowed out the new "anthem", Glory to Hong Kong, and repetitively chanted slogans which taunted the police, mostly about tasteless sexual acts involving female members of their family and how their wives were probably having affairs while they worked overtime to control pro-democracy demonstrations.

There was a small child's potty which someone had brought along and left outside, labelled for Carrie Lam's use, and a poster insisting she has a human face and the heart of a monster.

Such is the disgust and distaste for the chief executive amongst many Hong Kongers, these ordinarily conservative, deeply respectful people are out bellowing their disappointment and taking to the streets on a worryingly regular basis.

And many are women. There are pensioners. There are students. There are children. And yes, there is also a hardcore now becoming increasingly violent.

Although at the time of writing, the most violent act outside the stadium was repeated mangling of grammar during the constant chanting.

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The chief executive has the lowest approval rating of any Hong Kong leader since the former British colony was handed back to China in 1997 under the "one country two systems" setup.

And it's hard to see how she can come back from this episode with any degree of authority.

Since the protests erupted in June, they've grown stronger and more violent every weekend. This coming weekend will be the 17th in a row where protesters are expected to gather demanding more democratic freedoms and to voice their disapproval of her and her administration.

At the beginning of September, she took to the airwaves to announce she would formally withdraw the controversial extradition bill which would have seen suspects sent for trial in China - and ignited the protests. But by then it was far too little and far too late.

Now the protesters regularly chant: "Five demands and not one less."

The withdrawal of the extradition bill was one demand but the others involve an independent police inquiry and the dropping of charges against those arrested during the course of the pro-democracy demonstrations.

Ms Lam insists she is setting up an "independent" inquiry under the existing police complaints commission. But many Hong Kongers feel the IPCC is biased while Ms Lam insists the rule of law needs to be upheld and those arrested and accused of carrying out vandalism or violent acts should be investigated.

The disillusionment with Ms Lam is growing and there seems very little she can personally do to stop it. She's already been heard in secretly recorded audio whilst speaking to business leaders, talking of her limited scope for manoeuvre.

This weekend is expected to be a turbulent one for Hong Kong. There's the fifth anniversary of the student-led "umbrella movement" which also demanded more democratic freedoms but petered out.

And on 1 October it's the 70th anniversary of China's Communist Party with large rallies expected over the weekend to mark the civilians' disapproval of China.

The Hong Kong authorities seem nowhere near solving this mess. And it is having a cumulative and negative impact on business, the economy and tourism.

One cannot imagine Ms Lam walked out of the stadium hall with anything other than the impression she has one heck of a problem on her hands. And she may be the biggest hurdle for progress.

The protesters have got the metaphorical bit between their teeth and they aren't giving up right now. Ms Lam has insisted she's listening. But I'm not at all sure the protesters want to hear anything she has to say any more.