Uinise Toke (36) was sentenced to two-years imprisonment for grievous bodily harm, when she repeatedly struck her 33-year-old partner with a machete, on his head and hands.

Hon Mr Justice Niu sentenced her on April 21 at the Nuku’alofa Supreme Court, after she pleaded guilty in February. Her sentence was fully suspended on conditon.

The accused and victim Sione Fualalo are in a de-facto relationship. 


The victim received stitches and was discharged from Vaiola Hospital on June 17, 2020 with a course of antibiotics, and follow up in the outpatient clinic.


On June 13, 2020 at around 6am, the victim was talking with the accused on the phone. The accused was angry with him because he kept lying to her of his whereabouts. He was out drinking irresponsibly with friends and was breaching the curfew. 

They met at the Mohokoi Club at Longolongo. When the accused got there, the victim was already there. While, explaining to her his whereabouts, the accused struck his head with a machete. 


She then repeatedly struck him with the machete and he tried to cover his head. This injured his head, his left wrist and also his right palm. When she tried to hit him for the last time, the accused held the machete and it eventually fell from her hand. 

T
he accused then walked away and there were blood stains on her clothes. She was later arrested by Police.

Domestic violence pattern

The accused had expressed remorse to the victim and was forgiven by him. They are now continuing to live together, without further problem up to now.

The Court heard both began living together in 2016, and unfortunately, Sione had a drinking problem and was abusive and violent when he was drunk, and he would beat the accused up and that happened almost weekly, especially in weekends when he would return after drinking with his friends.

The judge said, the accused beatings got worse and she complained to the police and he was sentenced to prison for three-months.

However, when he came back, she continued to live with him, but again the same thing happened and he again beat her up. The accused complained again and he was sentenced to five-years, but it was suspended for three-months in 2019. Within those three-months, he beat her up again.

The judge was concerned that appropriate measures had not been taken when the accused complaints had been made to the Magistrate's Court. 

“It was clear that the problem you had with your partner was his consumption of alcohol. And S.16 (1)(c) of the Family Protection Act, which provides for measures to be taken to prevent domestic violence, expressly provides that every protection order shall provide that, the respondent shall not approach the complainant while under the influence of alcohol,” he said.

"I do not know if there was any protection order made in respect of your complaints and whether it made any such provision, but it should have been strictly enforced. It would appear that either it was not ordered or it was ordered but was not enforced against your partner.

“It is now clear, because he has now stopped drinking alcohol altogether, that had such measures been taken there and then when you made your first complaint, there would not have been the domestic violence, which was continued to be committed against you by your partner, and you would not have committed this offence."

The judge then sentenced her to two-years imprisonment but suspended for three-years, on condtion that if she does not commit an offence punishable by imprisonment within those three-years, her two-years imprisonment sentence will be automatically cancelled.