‘Alefosio Vaiangina (44) will be sentenced in July after he was convicted of housebreaking and theft of Tongan fine mats valued at $28,400 pa'anga from the Royal Palace in Vava’u.

Lord Chief Justice Whitten QC convicted him on both counts on 1 June, at the Supreme Court in Nuku’alofa. His trial was held earlier April.

The Lord Chief Justice said he was satisfied beyond reasonable doubt, that a latent print is evidence of the accused's left forefinger having been on the Palace louvre when he broke in. 

“I found the accused to be an unimpressive witness and his evidence unreliable.”

The court heard from a witness for the prosecution, Faleula Kapukava, that she and her family have been employed to maintain the Royal Palace in Vava'u, since the reign of King Tupou IV. 

She cleaned and cared for the inside of the Palace while her husband, son and grandson used to maintain the grounds. 

Her husband is now 70-years of age and her son and grandson have since found work elsewhere. Therefore, in the last year or so, a boy by the name of 'Atikono Eliesa has been employed to help with the gardens.

No one ever entered without permission

To Faleula's knowledge, ever since the Palace was built, no one has ever entered it without permission or stolen from it. She is the only person with keys to the Palace. 


However, on 26 October 2017, Faleula finished her cleaning work for the day, turned on the external lights, locked the doors and went home. The next morning, she returned to the Palace to start work at 8:30am. 

She unlocked the kitchen door and entered as she usually did. However, when she entered the kitchen, she felt something was wrong. In the kitchen was a refrigerator, which usually contained meat. However, the meat had been taken out and was sitting beside the fridge. 

Faleula was very worried that something had happened to the house, so she inspected every room. When she entered a room between the kitchen and the royal bedrooms, she noticed 'it was a mess'. 

Usually, there were koloa comprising Tongan mats, tapas, ngatu and two Fijian lotaha fisi mats placed neatly on a bed there. She knew the mats very well because they were for the beds of the Royal family. 

However, when she went in, she saw that only two remained and koloa or valuable mats were missing. She estiamted the value of the mats totaled $28,400 pa'anga. She added that their value had increased, since then.

Faleula said she then looked for the likely point of entry. 

She went out onto the verandahs and checked the doors. She saw that outside the King's room, three glass louvre panes had been removed from the bottom section of the louvres on that wall and placed in the garden area beside the verandah. They were stacked on each other but only partly overlapping. She did not touch them. 

She reported this to the Governor's office which was then relayed to the Police.

The accused in his evidence said it was only when he was arrested last year for this alleged offending in 2017, that the police first started work on the case.

Evidence

Fingerprint evidence is cast on the unassailable premise that no two fingerprints are alike. Identification of one fingerprint with another may therefore provide a direct means of identification of an accused

The Lord Chief Justice said relation to the evidence of the accused's left forefinger, he was able to identify, from the Mark Chart and Explanation together with the aid of Police Inspector Pale's viva voce evidence, the 12 points of identification he presented.

"I am satisfied, beyond reasonable doubt, that latent print #9 is evidence of the accused's left forefinger having been on the Palace louvre."

He said the accused was unable to explain the presence of his fingerprint on the louvre.

However, an inability to explain the presence of fingerprints, or a failure specifically to deny the fingerprints in question, does not amount to an admission by the defence.

Strict proof is required [Chappell v. OPP, 89 Cr.App.R. 82, DC] For the reasons stated, I am satisfied that the prosecution has adduced that proof, he said.

It may well be that since this offending (and apart from the 2021 offence for which he was fined), the accused has endeavoured to reform his life. However, I am satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the Crown has proved the elements of the 2017 offences, including, critically, that it was the accused who committed them, he said.

None of the koloa [mats] had been returned. 


The accused will be sentenced on 15 July.