Nesiasi Kamoto (49) received a suspended sentence for discharging a .22 rifle to intimidate his relatives, who were living at his tax allotment in Tofoa.

Hon. Justice P. Tupou KC sentenced him on 28 October, after convicting him on the charge in September. He had earlier pleaded guilty to possession of arms, without a licence at the Supreme Court in Nuku'alofa.

The offences occured on 8 October 2021, when the defendant discharged the .22 rifle near his relatives Tevita Silivamaile and others.

The judge said at around 7:30am the defendant's wife, Mrs. Kamoto woke him, as he was out drinking the night before. They had people at their home interested in buying pigs. The defendant got up and went to his tax allotment and shot the pigs and returned home.

Upon his return home his wife told him about the cutting down of the coconut trees at his tax allotment near the complainant's home which made him angry. The two of them went back to the tax allotment to see for themselves.

The complainants were Pauline, the defendant's aunt and her sons, including Tevita Silivamaile. In June, 2021, the complainants had nowhere to live and after Pauline asked the defendant he gave them permission to live on his tax allotment, use coconut leaves from the trees on his land to make brooms to sell for their income, grow crops for food and to keep the place clean.

The judge said on the way to the complainants' home, the defendant retrieved the rifle he had used earlier to shoot the pigs to take with them.

The rifle belonged to a tenant on his tax allotment named Vaisima. This was not the first time the defendant went to the complainants' home with the rifle in hand. One of the complainants said that the difference was, this time, the defendant discharged the rifle.

When they arrived at the complainant's home, they were tying up brooms to sell. The defendant approached them with the rifle in hand and was slapping Tevita around and hit his mouth with the rifle butt.

Tevita got up and punched the defendant and a fight broke out with Tevita's two brothers, a sister in law and Mrs. Kamoto getting involved to try and break up the fight.

During the fight, the defendant fell to the ground but held onto the rifle. He was punched by the brothers whilst on the ground and lost 6-7 teeth in the process.

After he was helped up by Mrs Kamoto she led him away and he discharged the rifle into the air 3-4 metres from Tevita and the others. The police were called and the defendant was arrested and was eventually charged with the offences here, said the judge.

"I have also formed the view that the defendant, in allowing the complainants to reside on his land when they had no place to go, allowing them to use the coconut leaves from trees on his land for their trade and to use his land to grow their own food clearly indicate his compassion for these relatives.

“For those reasons, I am persuaded that if he was not attacked, he had no cause to discharge the firearm and that he did so, (although it was wrong to react in that manner) in reaction to the violence inflicted on him and to intimidate those who attacked him."

The defendant was then sentenced to 18-months imprisonment fully suspended for two-years on conditions, including carrying out 60-hours of community service.