* Men committed to High Court for trial
* Sentencing next for alleged attackers
* Courts to resume normal next week
Men committed to High Court for trial
TWO MEN facing separate criminal offences of murder and unlawful sex have been committed to stand trial in the High Court.
One of them is a 21-year-old man accused of raping his 13-year-old cousin sister last November in West Honiara.
This was after he entered a not guilty plea to one count of sexual intercourse with a child under 15 years.
The other is Garnet Babaua who faces one count of murder.
He was accused of the murder of a man in the Fox Wood area, Guadalcanal on 13 July this year.
The men were committed following a short form of a preliminary inquiry conducted on their matters.
The magistrate had found sufficient evidence against them to stand trial in the High Court for their respective charges committed their matters accordingly.
They will both appear before the High Court on October 30.
Public Solicitor’s lawyers represent both men while the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution is prosecuting these matters.
Sentencing next for alleged attackers
SENTENCING of three men convicted of charges in relation to an arson attack on a village in Lambi area, Guadalcanal will be handed down soon.
This would be after all sentencing submissions are filed to the court.
The prosecution had already tendered their sentencing submissions when the matter was mentioned on the last court date.
One of the defense counsels is yet to do so.
The matter will return to court on October 26.
John Kemabule was convicted of two counts of arson while Timothy Bobongi and Peter Rade were convicted of charges of acts intended to cause grievous harm and assault causing actual bodily harm.
They were accused of being part of a group of men who went to Walehi Village in Lambi area on 13 September 2017 and burnt down four houses.
Two men were also assaulted on that day.
The incident was in relation to an alleged sorcery case.
Kemabule was found guilty of burning two houses while Bobongi and Rade were guilty of assaulting two men on that day.
Five other men who were charged in relation to this incident namely Robert Keki, Stenert Edward, Augustine Taravania, Bartista John, and Fredric Samson Belia are currently under warrant of arrests.
The warrants of arrests were issued after they failed to turn up in court.
The Public Solicitor’s Office represents the men while the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) appears for the Crown.
Courts to resume normal next week
THE courts in the country will resume normal court sittings next week following the end of a judicial conference at the High Court yesterday.
All judges and Magistrates in the country have attended the video conference as of Wednesday this week.
Since Wednesday, both the High Court and Magistrates Court have halted all sittings of cases to allow judges and magistrates to attend the conference.
In spite of that, the court registries were opened to the public on those three days.
All court sittings will resume as normal next week.
Information regarding the three-day conference is not yet disclosed in spite of a request being made.
