A fireman was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment for assaulting a fellow fire officer with an iron rod at the Central Fire Station in Longolongo last year.

The accused, Moale Vi, pleaded guilty to attacking his colleague with an iron rod, leaving the victim with a fractured skull in hospital for 10 days.

The convicted man was sentenced by the Supreme Court of Tonga on Thursday, August 31.

The court was told that Moale Vi arrived at the Longolongo Fire Station in the early hours of December 22 of 2016 in a drunken state. The officer in charge of the station was sleeping at the fire station at the time but was summoned by a fellow fire officer to speak to Vi who was throwing chairs downstairs. After going downstairs and talking to Moale, the two ended up in a fight. The officer in charge got the better of Vi, and was assisted by another fire officer (the victim) who kicked Vi on the ground. Police arrived to the scene and Vi was taken away and charged with disorderly behaviour.

About an hour after being taken away, Vi returned to the fire station with two iron rods in his hands. He attacked the fire officer who had kicked him on the ground earlier, the fire officer was sleeping on a bed at the station at the time he was attacked by Vi.

The court stated, “About an hour later, the prisoner returned to the station this time with two iron rods one of which he used to hit officer….on the back of the head as he lay on his bed, and then, after he had turned to face him, he hit him again causing a frontal bone fracture with a fractured fragment lodging within the frontal sinuses and haemorrhage in the front sinuses.”

After being attacked on his bed, the victim ran from the station and was chased by Vi. The victim was later taken to hospital where he recovered for 10 days and was off work for two months.

The Supreme Court suspended the final 12 months of Vi’s prison sentence, citing his guilty plea as well as the fact that he was a first-time offender.