A MAN accused of the death of another man at Fulisango, Honiara, in July last year has been sentenced to six years in jail, Wednesday.
John Sangolafa, who was initially charged with murder, was sentenced after pleading guilty to one count of manslaughter.
He was supposed to stand trial starting Monday last week.
However, following the negations between his lawyer and the prosecution, the charge was reduced to a manslaughter charge on which Sangolafa entered a guilty plea.
Chief Justice Sir Albert Palmer when handing down the sentence said that of the number of case authorities he was referred to by counsels for this case, one of the common feature which stands out in these cases is the part alcohol plays and more often than the use of a weapon.
“In Solomon Islands society, carrying a knife around is not uncommon for in many instances it is a tool that is used in almost daily life and activity of Solomon Islanders,” Sir Albert told the accused.
He said it is the use that it is put in this instance that is wrong, but it is not wrong and unusual to find a knife in the possession of a person.
“The facts and circumstances surrounding the commission of an offence will often determine if it was acquired or taken for the purpose of the commission of an offence or not.
“In this instance, the deceased and his friend were drunk while you had a knife in your possession which you used during the fight,” Sir Albert told the accused.
Before imposing sentence on Sangolafa, Sir Albert took note of the trauma his family have experienced.
“Following the death of the deceased, your family experienced trauma and fear from threats of violence and intimidation from the deceased’s family members and relatives and physical loss to property and possessions when your family home was burnt down,” Sir Albert told the accused.
Sir Albert said the loss included money and custom money collected towards the compensation.
“In spite of this loss, your family struggled with the help of family members and friends to collect sufficient cash and shell money to make payment for compensation and enabling reconciliation to take place between the two parties.
“I note a lot of innocent family members as well have been victimised as a consequence of your actions,” Sir Albert said.
Sir Albert also took note of the circumstances surrounding the offence that it arose from a fight that had occurred between the accused’s group and the deceased and another friend.
He said the summary of agreed facts gave two different versions as to the cause of the fight, seeking to put blame on the other side.
He told the accused that if the Crown’s version of event is to be accepted, it would put the blame on the accused and his group as the aggressor, for Crown’s version is that the friend of the deceased used the four letter word when he tripped as they were walking along and denied it was directed at anyone in particular.
“If your account is to be believed, blame would placed on the other side for you heard them swearing at you and your tribe from which the fight broke out between you.”
Sir Albert said he is more inclined to accept the accused’s account for he was not drunk that night whereas the deceased and his friend had been drinking Kwaso for most part of the night when they met.
“Your account would be more readily believed than that of the deceased and his friend,” Sir Albert told Sangolafa.
The court had heard that in the fight, the deceased was stabbed with a knife at the back of his thigh, severing the muscles and the femoral vein and artery.
“No doubt the use of the knife is an aggravating feature, unwarranted in the circumstances, and in particular when you were not under immediate danger, threat or attack until confronted afterwards by a relative of the deceased wielding an iron rod.
“The attack was needless, for the deceased had his back to you and you could have escaped then, although, I do bear in mind the context of the events that night when making assessment of what had transpired.”
Sir Albert added that in spite that the force was excessive and unlawful, Sangolafa’s guilty plea is a recognition and acceptance for his wrong doing, that he is sorry and remorseful of what had happened.
He then imposed a sentence of six years imprisonment after considering the strong mitigation factors in the accused’s favour, his early guilty plea, his youth, he has no previous convictions, compensation has been paid in custom, and the long period of almost three years of waiting for the trial.
“I am satisfied a sentence of six years is appropriate to reflect the principles of retribution, deterrence and rehabilitation.
He also made an order for the period Sangolafa spent in pre-trial custody is to be deducted from the total sentence imposed.
The incident occurred at 2pm on 25 July last year at Fulisango area.
The deceased after being stabbed was taken to the National Referral Hospital but died two days later.
George Gray of Public Solicitor’s Office and his colleague Rodney Manebona represented Sangolafa.
Appearing for the Crown are the Director of Public Prosecutions Ronald Bei Talasasa and Public Prosecutor Sirepu Ramosaea.
By ASSUMPTA BUCHANAN
