Petelo Mo’unga (25) was sentenced to four and a half years imprisonment for possession of 26.98 grams of cocaine and 0.07 grams of methamphetamine.

Lord Chief Justice Whitten QC sentenced him on 24 June at the Supreme Court in Nuku'alofa. On 10 May at his arraignment, he pleaded guilty to three charges, that included possession of utensils.

However, he did not turn up to court today so a warrant for his arrest was issued.

"Upon his arrest, he is to be taken directly to Hu'atolitoli Prison to commence his sentence."

The offending was on 5 October 2021, when Police received information that the defendant was selling drugs from his vehicle parked in front of a Chinese store, on Taufa'ahau Road at Lapaha. 

Police found him in the driver's seat of his vehicle holding a test tube. 

He told them he 'had something on' him. As a result, police searched his vehicle, during which, they found $100 in cash, packs containing white crystalline substances and 25 empty dealer packs. 


The defendant initially cooperated with Police when questioned and admitted that the white substances were illicit drugs, including 'ice' and that the test tube was his. However, on 15 October 2021, when police sought to formally interview the him, he chose to remain silent. 


Crown submited the aggravating factors in this case included the substantial amount of drugs found and his previous convictions from theft to housebreaking and theft.

The Lord Chief Justice said, in order to give effect to Parliament's evident intention in the 2020 amendments, particularly in respect of the deemed supply provisions, the more severe maximum penalties for Class A drugs, and to reflect the necessary sentencing objectives of denunciation, deterrence and protection of the community, the starting point on count 1 here should be higher than those in Fotu and Afu. 

"The amount of cocaine here was more than a hundred times that apparently considered by Parliament to constitute low level or personal use offending."

He said having regard to the seriousness of the offending, the amount of cocaine seized, the comparable sentences and principles that he referred, he set a starting point on the first count, of five and half years imprisonment.

He did do not consider it appropriate to reduce the starting points by reason of this being the defendant's first detected drug offending. 

“For a relatively young man, he has already developed an unenviable criminal history. To have progressed from property and dishonesty offences to violence and now to drugs is not something for which much, if any, credit should be given on this occasion.”

However, for the defendant's early admission and guilty plea, the starting point was reduced.

"The defendant is still young, he initially cooperated with the authorities, and he pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity. That his last significant conviction for assault occurred more than seven-years ago is some testament to his propensity for rehabilitation and if afforded the opportunity for same by a partly suspended sentence."

Further, that this is his first drug conviction also suggests that his prospects of rehabilitation may be enhanced by the supervision and counseling that form part of the conditions of a partly suspended sentence, he said.

The Lord Chief Justice then ordered that the final 18-months of his four and a half years sentence be suspended for two-years, on conditions.

The drugs was ordered to be destroyed and all seized cash and other items forfeited to the Crown.