- Man jailed for grievous harm
- Prosecution yet to amend charges
- Accused faces sentence
Man jailed for grievous harm
A YOUNG man who attacked another man, injuring his left hand, has been sentenced to one year, two months in prison, Wednesday.
Larrex Lulua was sentenced after pleading guilty to one count of grievous harm.
Principal Magistrate Fatima Taeburi when sentencing Lulua said it cannot be ignored that the injury sustained by the victim is very serious.
“I consider the pain and suffering that the victim experienced,” Ms Taeburi said.
She also considered the effects of the injury on the daily life of the victim and that for a period of time; the victim would have been unable to use his left hand.
The court heard that the victim was not the aggressor or instigator of the fight and that it was his friend Derol who was the cause of the violence.
Ms Taeburi said the victim was innocent and was actually trying to mitigate the situation.
Lulua was sleeping when a fight happened outside his house on 14 November 2019.
The victim’s friend Derol was using abusive words towards the accused’s father which was the cause of the fight.
Ms Taeburi said Lulua wake up, came outside and probably learnt of what happened and then acted.
It was heard that Lulua kicked the victim’s left hand once, causing serious injury to his left hand.
Ms Taeburi took into account that Lulua acted in the spur of a moment and therefore did not plan to assault the victim.
She also considered the reconciliation that had been done but stated that customary reconciliation does not erase the wrong committed by the accused.
“It settles the dispute, it prevents further violence and it is a demonstration of remorse on the part of the offender.”
She then imposed the one year, two months imprisonment and ordered that the time Lulua spent in custody be taken into account.
Bobby Harunari of Public Solicitor’s Office represented Lulua while Public Prosecutor Vernon Taupongi appeared for the Crown.
Prosecution yet to amend charges
THE prosecution is yet to sort out the multiple false pretence charges against a man accused of obtaining $53,000 from an elderly businessman.
Public Prosecutor Steward Tonowane on Wednesday told the court that he will be making a brief memo to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) regarding the charges.
He therefore sought a 14-day adjournment to do just that as the DPP had just returned from overseas.
Sam Ngedea, 45, who faces 53 counts of false pretence, was supposed to enter his pleas to the allegation against him on Monday.
Magistrate Fatima Taeburi however, halted the pleas after noting particulars of the charges are not in order and was confusing.
She therefore had the matter adjourned to yesterday for prosecution to amend the particulars of the charges.
Lawyer representing Ngedea did not object to the adjournment made by the prosecution yesterday to December 4.
Principal Magistrate Felix Hollison after mentioning the matter adjourned it to December 4.
Ngedea is facing 53 counts of false pretences in relation to allegations between 3 December 2018 and 20 July 2019.
Prosecution alleged he lied to an elderly retired doctor and obtained $53,000 from him.
Ngedea allegedly collected the money on numerous occasions from the 78-year-old complainant at his motel in Honiara.
He claimed the money he collected were for compensation for the complainant trying to have sex with his mother, Mary.
Prosecution also alleged he would on different occasions, used different names such as George Ben, John Lake and Peter.
According to the allegation, Ngedea made an arrangement with a woman to meet the complainant.
It was few days after a woman who identified herself as Mary went to see the complainant that Ngedea allegedly started to call and threatened the complainant for money.
Over a period of time, the accused collected a total of about $53,000 from the complainant that he claimed for compensation and settlement of the matter outside of court.
The accused also obtain money from the complainant to assist him travel to New Zealand, and for boat repair.
As a result of this incident, the complainant’s business was bankrupt resulting in him leasing his property.
Public Solicitor’s lawyer Lazarus Waroka is representing Ngedea.
Accused faces sentence
SENTENCE is next for the man who lied to five Solomon Islands National University (SINU) students and obtained $10,000 from them.
This followed the sentencing submissions and mitigation made on the matter of Junior Wane on Wednesday in the Honiara Magistrates’ Court.
Wane had pleaded guilty to five counts of false pretence on a previous occasion.
The maximum penalty for the offence of false pretence is five years imprisonment.
Prosecution is asking court to consider imposing a starting point of two years imprisonment while the defence is asking for a lesser penalty.
In addition to the jail term, the prosecution also raised an issue of compensation to be paid to the complainants by the accused.
Wane obtained $2,000 from each of the five Solomon Islands National University (SINU) students.
This was after he lied to them that he had privileges at the National Training Unit (NTU).
Wane claimed to be a lawyer at one occasion and at another time claimed that his father is an employee of NTU with privileges to enrol students for government scholarships and sponsorship.
Public Solicitor’s lawyer Lazarus Waroka represents Wane while Police Prosecutor Lyndon Adifaka is appearing for the Crown.
