By Linny Folau

‘Aleki Tamale was jailed for serious causing bodily harm, when he hit his wife on the head with an iron, leaving her with laceration to her scalp, after he became drunk and violent at his home at Tokomololo in March this year.

Acting Justice Langi sentenced him to 18-months imprisonment and suspended 14-months on conditions, on 1 November at the Supreme Court in Nuku’alofa. This was after the accused pleaded guilty to the charge in September, which he committed on his wife, Mrs Tamale.

In a summary of facts prepared by the Crown and agreed to by the accused, the offence was in the early morning of 5 March 2023, when the complainant and the accused returned to their home at Tokomololo, after a night of drinking at a friend's house in Kahoua.

When they arrived at their home, the complainant went to sleep. The accused, however, continued drinking alcohol with two other men. At around 3:00am, the complainant woke up, when she heard the accused calling out for her. She went into the living room and saw the accused challenging another man to a fight. That person went outside and left.

The accused then turned to the complainant and told her that he would beat her death. He then proceeded to punch the complainant's face and dragged her by her hair around the living room. As they reached one corner of the house, the accused took an iron and used it to hit the complainant on the head, causing her head to bleed.

He then continued to drag the complainant to their vehicle to leave and as when he reversed, the vehicle got stuck in the mud. The complainant then jumped out of the vehicle, and ran to a neighbour's house to seek help. She was taken to the hospital and a medical report showed that she sustained a 7-8cm long scalp laceration to her skull bone. She received stitches and oral antibiotics, the court heard.

Domestic abuse

The Acting Justice stated that the Crown submitted the following as aggravating factors, included the use of a weapon (the iron); the complainant was not armed and she was defenceless; he was under the influence of alcohol, his previous convictions show previous offences of drunkenness and disorderly behaviour and the accused intended to strike the complainant's head, where she sustained a laceration to her head and this was domestic abuse.

Mitigating factors included the accused early guilty plea, his cooperation with the police; his remorse and he had reconciled with his wife and they were now living happily together.

In addition, the accused's wife told the pre-sentence report writer that she had forgiven him and they had resumed living together as husband and wife. They understood the gravity of what he had done and she was encouraging him to leave the past behind while they focused on their future. They asked that the court show leniency on him.

In a victim report, the complainant said that the offending was very out of character as the accused had never assaulted her before. He had always shown her love and respect and was attentive to her. Because they live in an isolated area in Tokomololo the accused would always take her with him to drink kava and she would wait for him in their car. She said that she had now forgiven the accused and that the injuries she had sustained had healed.

However, the accused's previous convictions dating from 2009 to 2021, included abetment to housebreaking, theft and drunkenness.

The Acting Justice stated, “to his credit, the accused does not have any previous convictions for assault or use of violence. However, the fact that he has previous convictions does indicate a predilection to break the law. His previous convictions are also relevant in this case as it is clear that the accused has a drinking problem which, in my opinion, was the major contribution to this offending.”

"Attacks to the head, especially with a heavy or sharp weapon will always be condemned by the Courts because of the inherent danger of injury to the brain. The attack was also unprovoked, he had challenged another person to a fight and when that person did not take the challenge and chose to leave, he turned around and saw his wife and decided to release his fury onto her."

Imprisonment

Acting Justice Langi also stated that it is quite obvious from the defendant’s previous convictions that he has a drinking problem, and this saw him being convicted twice in 2020 and again in 2021 for alcohol related offences. Now in 2023, his drinking problem has escalated to the point that he had nearly killed his wife with an iron.

On the other hand, he is remorseful and he and his wife have reconciled, and according to the probation report, they are now happily living together. However, the denunciation of such violent behaviour and the protection of women and vulnerable persons is the paramount consideration in these cases, she said.

“I believe that an appropriate starting point in this case is two-years imprisonment. I add six-months to the starting point for his previous convictions and for the use of a weapon which could have resulted in more grievous harm or even death. That brings the total sentence to 30-months' imprisonment. For the defendant's mitigating factors of early guilty plea and remorse, I take of 12-months leaving a total sentence of 18-months imprisonment.”

The Acting Justice also stated she was of the view that serious or grievous harm as a result of domestic violence can only in the most exceptional circumstances be visited with non-custodial sentence.

“There are no exceptional circumstances in this case and the accused cannot therefore escape serving time in prison.”

She then suspended the last 14-months of the 18-months sentence for two-years on the conditions, that he is not to re-offend during the period of suspension when he is released from prison and must take the alcohol and life skills course. This means that the accused will serve the remaining four-months imprisonment, at Hu’atolitoli Prison.

“I impose that sentence having regard to the importance of sending the right message to this defendant and to others, and having regard especially to the serious matters listed by the Crown as aggravating factors," the judge said.