Kalapu Felemi (49) received a suspended sentence for serious causing bodily harm, when he used a knife to repeatedly hit and injure his younger brother, Tesimoni Felemi (38) during a drink-up at Tatakamotonga.

Hon. Mr Justice Niu sentenced him on October 28 at the Nuku'alofa Supreme Court. He initially pleaded not guilty but changed his plea to guilty in September.

The Crown's case was that the accused and his younger brother were drinking alcohol at their parent's home this year from the evening of January 8 up to the following day.

At about midday, on January 9, the accused had gone inside the house to get food to eat. He didn’t find any, so he broke a bowl inside the house and the complainant came in and stopped him. As the complainant went back outside, the accused ran out with a machete towards him. Their nephew managed to stop the accused and removed the machete.

The complainant then went to the veranda of their house and suddenly the accused showed up again with another knife and started hitting the complainant on his head with the blade of the knife. The complainant used his hands to try and block the strikes but his arms got injured.

The judge said, one of the critical considerations in sentencing any bodily harm case is the extent or seriousness of the injury or injuries caused.

However, he was not provided by the Crown with any information about the seriousness of the injuries which the accused caused to his brother.

“I am not provided with the medical report of the injuries, and Crown counsel did not describe the injuries in any detail, and no photograph was produced. It is only the description which the doctor gave which crown counsel conveyed namely, that all the injuries were "superficial lacerations", which he took to mean that the lacerations or cuts, were not deep or serious,” he said.

The accused had previous convictions of drunkenness and bodily harm.

In addition, the judge considered when the offender was likely to take the opportunity offered by the suspended sentence to rehabilitate himself and considered that he may be eligible for suspension of his sentence, because he had already apologised and his brother had forgiven him and had continued to live together peacefully with him at his parents' home.

The accused had also been reported to have refrained from drinking alcohol.

"You are likely to take and make proper use of the opportunity offered by a suspended sentence to rehabilitate yourself to refrain from drinking and violence. Suspension of your sentence does not mean that it is cancelled."

“The sentencing is still there and if you re-offend during the period of suspension, you will still serve that sentence as well as the sentence for the subsequent offence. However, I think that you need counselling with regard to drinking and to control of your temper as recommended by both the probation officer and crown counsel,” said the judge.

The accused was then sentenced to one year six-months imprisonment, which was fully suspended for two-years, on conditions.