'Osaiasi Naulumatua (38) was sentenced to two two-years and two-months imprisonment for causing serious bodily harm, that indirectly resulted in the death of another man.

Lord Chief Justice Whitten QC during sentencing on 15 July said the defendant was very fortunate not to have been charged with manslaughter.

The victim was Musa'ati Falase.

"This is yet another sad and tragic case where a violent, alcohol-fuelled, outburst has resulted, at least indirectly, in the death of the victim."

The accused changed his plea to guilty in May, only at the start of the trial at the Supreme Court in Nuku'alofa.

The offending was on the evening of 12 June 2021, when the defendant and the victim, Musa'ati, were drinking with others at the Tali'eva Bar. When the bar closed, they returned to his residence with his girlfriend and a friend.

When they arrived, Musa'ati was already there with another mutual friend, Penisoni, drinking alcohol. About 30 minutes later, the defendant's girlfriend went into his room to sleep. Penisoni went out. When he returned, he saw Musa'ati lying on the living room floor. 

The defendant told him that Musa'ati had gone into his room and tried to touch his girlfriend and so the defendant punched Musa'ati three times. 
The defendant then placed Musa'ati in his van and went back to drinking.

At around 4:00am, the defendant and Penisoni finished drinking. Penisoni waited till after curfew to return home and at around 7am, Penisoni drove Musa'ati to his residence 
at Kolofo'ou. 

When they arrived, Penisoni and Musa'ati's house mate, Uatesoni Kaloi, carried Musa'ati to his room, and constantly checked on him. When Uatesoni checked on him the fifth time, Musa'ati was dead.

Cause of death 

The Lord Chief Justice said, upon medical examination, Musa'ati was found to have dilated pupils, bruising and swelling to his left eye, abrasions on his left upper eyelid ,fresh blood from the nose, blood stains on his face and lips, and generalized bruising to his clavicle, neck, upper, mid and lower back.

On 23 June 2021, an autopsy revealed, among other things, extensive sub-dural haemorrhaging and blood clotting covering the entire brain surface. 

"The cause of death was marked intracranial haemorrhage with associated swelling of the brain consistent with the head coming into direct contact with a blunt hard object such as wood, concrete or metal."

When, the defendant was apprehended by Police, he did not cooperate and chose to remain silent. He 
is a Fijian national who has been in Tonga for about four-years on a work visa, renewable bi-annually.

He has no previous convictions.

The Crown submitted aggravating features included the force used by the defendant was excessive; 
he was intoxicated; and 
although there was no connection between the punches and the deceased's death, a life was still lost 

Lesser charge

The Lord Chief Justice said this is yet another sad and tragic case.

“On 8 March 2022, Mr Lutui, Director of Public Prosecutions, explained that the decision to lay the charge of causing serious bodily harm was reached after consideration of the appropriate prosecution tests and thresholds by which his office concluded that there was insufficient medical evidence to prove, to the required standard, a causal nexus between the punches admitted by the defendant and the injuries to the victim's skull and brain which led to his death. 

“In my view, the defendant is very fortunate not to have been charged with manslaughter. Despite the somewhat understandable reticence felt by the prosecution in advancing a case for a more serious charge, experience from similar cases strongly suggests that a likely scenario was that the punches to the victim's face rendered him unconscious and/or caused him to fall with his head hitting the ground,” he said.

"I do not consider that justice would be served by merely sentencing the defendant on the basis of him having punched the victim three times to his face and ignoring the fact that the victim died not long after the altercation. 

“While, he was not charged on the basis of that result, the reality of the victim's death must be considered as part of the seriousness of the offending."

He said the information before him in respect of the medical examination and subsequent autopsy does not reveal any congenital defect, disease or other mechanism by which the victim could have died due to a cause or causes entirely independent of the defendant's punches. 

“However, the material before me does not include any explanation by the defendant to the police (and I do not know whether he was asked) as what happened to the victim immediately after the blows were landed, such as whether he was rendered unconscious or fell to the ground and hit his head as a result of the punches,” said the Lord Chief Justice.

The defendant was then sentenced to two-years and two-months (26 months) imprisonment. 


"The seriousness and prevalence of this type of violent offending in Tonga demands effective deterrence. That sentencing objective would not be served by full suspension of the sentence here."