23-year-old jailed for breaking victim's jaw with coward's punch [1]
Wednesday, June 16, 2021 - 19:38
Fale’one Sitiveni Hafoka (23) was sentenced to one-year eight-months imprisonment for causing serious bodily harm to a 20-year-old victim, whom he punched in the face, breaking his jaw.
Lord Chief Justice Whitten QC sentenced the accused on June 15 at the Nuku’alofa Supreme Court. Hafoka pleaded guilty to the offence in May.
The offending was on the night of November 28, 2020 at Veitongo.
The victim, 'Ilaisa Tonga, was at the shop asking customers for money to buy food for his soccer team, when one of the soccer boys showed up crying, and said that drunken boys at a house of Pahulu Hafoka had beaten him up.
The victim then went with others to this house to find out why the boy had been beaten up. When they arrived, the defendant and two other boys were angry at the victim.
The victim and the soccer boys then returned to the Chinese shop. The defendant followed, approached the victim from behind and punched him in the face, causing him to fall down.
The defendant then punched the victim again, while he was on the ground .
'Ilaisa Tonga was taken to the hospital where he was found to have sustained cracked teeth and a broken jaw.
On December 3, 2020 due to the severity of his injuries, he underwent surgery to have his teeth removed and his jaws aligned with wire.
Due to the injuries, the victim is missing two of his left molars and is unable to open his mouth widely. His teeth are still wired and to date, he remains unable to eat solid food, he said.
The defendant, on the other hand was reported to be remorseful. He is unemployed and lives with his parents, earning a living by growing crops and selling them at local markets.
The Chief Justice said of the seriousness of the damage done by this coward's punch, which continues to affect the victim and with no apparent resolution or full recovery indicated any time soon.
Probation said in 2016 that the defendant was convicted of housebreaking and theft and recieved a full suspended sentence.
In 2018, he was convicted twice for drunkenness and fined on each occasion.
"Ultimately, in my view, perhaps the most important consideration on this issue is that in 2016, the defendant was afforded the opportunity of a prison sentence being suspended for three-years. Self-evidently, by his offending in 2018 and more recently, the instant offending, he has not demonstrated the rehabilitation objective intended by that sentence."
Probation recommended partial suspension of the defendant's sentence.
The Chief Justice then sentenced him to 20-months imprisonment and suspended the final 10-months for two-years, on conditions.
Failure to comply with the above conditions may result in the suspension being rescinded and the defendant will be required to serve the balance of his sentence of imprisonment, he said.