Prosecution will be confirming to the court its position as to whether it will proceed with the materials they have available in relation to the armed robbery case at the Bank of South Pacific (BSP) in Auki.
One of the four accused, Patrick Talo who was just arrested and his case transferred to Honiara from Auki is yet to be allocated a lawyer.
He will be allocated a lawyer before the next court appearance on April 11.
Public Prosecutor Bradley Dalipanda yesterday when updating the court on the status of investigations said the last information he received from police was early last month.
He told the court police are taking their investigation to the inland areas of Auki where another suspect is residing.
Mr Dalipanda sought a 14-day adjournment given the delay police are taking in this matter which he said would be the last adjournment.
“If police cannot proceed with the investigation then prosecution will proceed with the materials available.
“The matter cannot be prolonged any longer since the accuseds are in custody.”
Mr Dalipanda said police in Auki have issues with resources and manpower therefore relied on Honiara police in relation to investigations.
He however said prosecution is confident it can proceed with the current material in hand.
“Prosecution will let the court know if anything comes at a later stage.”
Lazarus Kwaiga of Emerald Lawyers who represents John Kiki and Nelson Ausolo is concerned that his clients have been remanded in custody for the past four months.
He said they are ready to take their pleas once prosecution confirmed its position.
Deputy Chief Magistrate Shepherd Lapo said there are a lot of preliminary issues to sort out which needs to be resolved first.
He said the pending arrests could be made later and the matter adjourned for seven days for prosecution to follow up with police.
He said if there was nothing forthcoming with investigations, then prosecution can confirm to the court if it will continue with the charge so that the case can proceed to the next step.
Talo, Wadily, Kiki and Nelson Ausolo are facing charges of robbery for allegedly robbing the BSP bank at Auki on the morning of 27 November last year.
A fifth suspect is still at large.
Prosecution alleged Ausolo who was armed with a firearm fired a shot before Talo and another co-accused still at large allegedly went into the bank and filled up bags with about (SBD) $200,000 and (US) $10,000.
They were all also allegedly wearing masks at that time.
It was alleged that Ausolo stood guard outside of the bank.
Before they took off from the bank, they allegedly fired another shot.
Sarah Karani of Public Solicitor’s Office is representing Wadily.
By ASSUMPTA BUCHANAN
