A MAN has been fined $200 on Thursday for drinking Kwaso in the Central Police Station in Honiara way back in 2010.
This was after Jackson Seni entered a guilty plea to the charge of consuming liquor in public place.
The maximum penalty for this offence is a fine of $2,000 or an imprisonment term of three months.
Seni has until August 24 to pay up his fine or else he will be sent to prison for 10 days.
Principal Magistrate Augustine Aulanga when handing down his sentence told Seni the Police Station building is not a place to drink Kwaso.
He told Seni, it is a building where people should respect because it belongs to the police who represent the State and maintain law and order in this country.
He questioned why and how Seni decided to drink Kwaso in the charge room at the Central Police Station and why he was not stopped or caught by the police.
“Your act of drinking Kwaso inside the police station is totally disrespectful,” Mr Aulanga told Seni.
Seni and others were caught by the police drinking Kwaso in front of the ITA hardware building and was escorted to the Central Police Station.
However, at the station Seni drank three bottles of Kwaso that he has in his pocket.
Before handing down the fine, Mr Aulanga gave Seni credit for his early guilty plea which saves the court’s time and resources and that he promised to stop drinking Kwaso.
Seni committed the offence way back in 2010 and was issued with a warrant of arrest since then after he failed to turn up in court.
He was arrested few days ago and was brought to the court where he entered a guilty plea to the charge.
By ASSUMPTA BUCHANAN
