Sinela Fifita (45) who was convicted of stabbing another man multiple times at Fatai five-years ago, received a fully suspended sentence at the Supreme Court.

Hon Mr Justice Niu in a judgment on May 28 sentenced the accused to three-years imprisonment for causing serious bodily harm to Neiafutahi Bloomfield on January 14, 2015.

This was fully suspended for two-years on conditions, that he does not commit any offence punishable by imprisonment within that period.

The Court heard this was after the long time the trial had taken to be held, which was not the fault of the accused.

The judge said, this was an inordinately very long time, and such delay should not have happened.

“The accused was entitled to have his trial held in 2015 or 2016 at the latest but because it has taken this long for it to come to trial, he has continued his life with his family as anyone would,” he said.

The Court heard, the accused now had two more children, more than than he had in 2015, (at the trial he told the Court that in 2015 he had three children).

The judge said, his partner might have properly survived on her own with only three children if the accused had gone to prison then, she certainly would find it much harder, perhaps impossible, for her to survive with now five children on her own.

The wife stated this in her letter only because someone was at fault and had overlooked to have the accused's case properly processed for trial in 2015.

"I consider that that factor is such that it would be unjust that you serve the three-years sentence of imprisonment and thereby subject your family, the family you have created in the five-years of default of the Crown to great hardship."

In addition, the Crown cannot insist that the accused's case be treated like the other cases referred to because there was no such long period of delay in those case like there is in this case, he said.

Offence

The accused was convicted on the offence by stabbing the victim with a knife on his chest, his shoulder and his nose.

The judge said, if another person, Siope Tu'i'onetoa, had not attacked the accused with a piece of timber, he would have carried on stabbing Neiafutahi until he died, and he would have been charged with murder instead.

“Neiafutahi was helpless. He had no weapon and there was no one there to help him. He could do nothing but to try and fend off your stabs, unsuccessfully. He was bleeding all over, blood was spurting from his chest, and from his shoulder and flowing from his nose,” Justice Niu stated.

When the police arrested and took the accused away shortly after that, the accused told them that he had stabbed Neiafutahi like that because the victim had called out to the people in his house to get the gun, when no such call was made.

At the trial, the accused maintained that he was acting in self-defence when he stabbed the victim repeatedly.

The accused said he was afraid the victim would shoot him and his family with the gun. “But when you were asked by the Prosecution why then did you run off and leave your family, you said that it was because you knew that Neiafutahi had only meant to shoot you, but not your family, with the gun,” said the judge.

Bread winner

However, the accused was reported by the probation officer to have been genuinely remorseful for what he had done to Neiafutahi.

The judge said, the only thing considered in his favour was his record of good behaviour since 1997 and that he has a family and five children and that they all depended on him for their education, upbringing and livelihood. 

Although, he was not sure whether or not the accused would re-offend, he accepted he would not likely re-offend because, for the past 
years he has not offended in any way whatsoever.

Mr Justice Niu was then satisfied that the accused would not re-offend if his sentence was suspended.

The sentence was fully suspended on conditions that included serving 100 hours of community service as directed by the Probation Officer.