Toio Lauteau (42) was convicted today of serious causing bodily harm, when he hit his wife twice on the head with a hammer in ‘Ohonua, ‘Eua. He will be sentenced on November 10. 

Hon. Mr Justice Niu in his verdict found the accused guilty of the offence at the Supreme Court.

The accused caused harm to the complainant and wife, Mele (42) when he hit her on the head with a hammer twice causing lacerations to her head on May 7, 2019.

The Crown submitted on the night of the offence, the couple were talking in the bedroom at home.

The accused then accused the complainant of travelling to Tongatapu to find a boyfriend. She denied this.

The conversation then got a lot more intense, leading to the accused grabbing the complainant by the hair and dragging her to the living room. She tried to apologised to the accused.

He then grabbed a hammer and hit her with it across her forehead. He again struck her on the back of her head with the hammer, causing her to feel dazed momentarily. 

The accused then grabbed her head and punched her on the face, before telling her to go get him smokes from the shop. She took this opportunity to run away to a neighbour's home and ask for help.

A medical report in May 2019, stated that the complainant was found to have sustained a black right eye; laceration on the right side of her forehead and on the left side of the back of the head as well as a swollen left hand.

The accused who was later arrested denied committing the offence. However, the judge convicted him on the evidence and will impose his sentence on November 10.