The Henderson Police has been given seven days as of Thursday to compensate a couple whose alcohol has gone missing while they were kept as exhibits at the station.
Principal Magistrate Augustine Aulanga ordered that the Exhibit Section of the Henderson Police compensate the two defendants by full replacement of the missing amount of alcohols and transported them to the residence of the defendants within the next seven days (from Thursday).
The alcohols to be replaced are, a carton of SB, one carton of Johnny Arrow, 21 cans of Solbrew and three cans of Johnny Arrow.
The Exhibit Section of Henderson Police Station is warned and reminded of the need to avoid such practice.
“This must never be repeated in future occasions when keeping confiscated items,” Mr Aulanga said.
He further ordered that the officer in charge of the Henderson Exhibit Section is at liberty to initiate any complaint against those officers who were responsible for the missing alcohols.
A penal notice was also handed down to the concerned Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RSIPF) officers, their agents, servants and any other interested persons.
“If you disobey this order, you may be arrested and held to be in contempt of Court and may be imprisoned, or fined.”
Mr Aulanga handed down this order after it was confirmed in court that the exhibits were missing.
Three officers from the Henderson Police Station were summoned to court at different times to explain to the court why those exhibits were missing.
Patterson and Grace Natei applied to court through their lawyer to summon those officers to appear in court and explain why those exhibits, were missing from the police station.
The couple has been charged last year for selling liquor without alcohol after being claimed to have sold liquor without a license on 17 November 2015.
Police then confiscated three cartons of solbrew bottles, nine cartons of solbrew cans plus 21 solbrew cans, two crates of solbrew bottles plus 21 solbrew bottles, one carton of whiskey cola plus cans of whisky cola, two cartons of Johnny Arrow plus five cans of Johnny Arrow cans, two cartons of Saratoga plus 16 bottles of Saratoga and 52 cartons of SB beers plus 20 cans of SB beers.
The court however acquitted both of them on 9 May this year after the court found they have occasional license to sell liquor which was valid from June 2015 to December 2015.
After acquitting them, the court then ordered that the confiscated items be returned to the couple before or by 10 may 2016.
Police did return those items but not all of them.
Ronald Dive of Emerald Lawyers represented the couple.
By ASSUMPTA BUCHANAN
