Polonga Tau'alupe (20), from Pahu, Kolofo'ou, was sentenced to three years suspended sentence and put on an all night curfew for six months and banned from driving for seven years, by Justice Robert Shuster at the Nuku'alofa Supreme Court in Nuku'alofa, on December 6.

Tau'alupe pleaded guilty to manslaughter by negligence for causing the death of Makalita Taulahi (21), who was a passenger in the vehicle he drove when it crashed at Hala Vuna on the night of September 3, while driving under the influence of alcohol.

The accused had pleaded guilty to the one count of manslaughter by negligence.

Justice Shuster suspended the three years sentence under the conditions that Tau'alupe ‪perform 1000 hours of community service, whereby he would become a youth ambassador, going around school educating students on the consequences of drink driving‬.

He was also ordered to be on curfew for the next six months from 6pm to 6am daily. In addition he was ordered to enroll and complete the Salvation Army's Drugs and Alcohol Awareness program and was banned from driving any motor vehicle for the next seven years.

Alcohol

The car that Tau'alupe was driving was traveling westward along Hala Vuna, and at the Mala'e'aloa Cemetery went off the road, hit a power pole, bounced onto the opposite side of the road and slammed into a tree. Makalita Taulahi, a back seat passenger, was seriously injured. She was rushed to Vaiola Hospital but she later died from her injuries.