A 25-year-old soldier was sentenced to four years imprisonment on June 4 for the attempted rape and indecent assault of a young woman in Tofoa in January earlier this year.

Private Siaosi Fe'ao from Ha'apai, residing in Havelu, was sentenced by Chief Justice Anthony Ford after he was found guilty on three offences of attempted rape and two indecent assault charges in a jury trial in April 2010.

The Chief Justice did not see any good reason to suspend any of the sentence and said that Siaosi, despite being convicted by a jury of the offences, continued to deny committing the crime, which was a matter of concern to the court.

"You have not owned up to your guilty conduct, nor are you remorseful and you have not apologised to the complainant in the traditional Tongan way. The complainant on the other hand stated she would never forgive you for what you did to her."

Chief Justice Ford said on the night of January 15, 2010 the 27-year-old complainant from Tofoa went with her girlfriend Seini Matakaiongo (29) to the Ambassador Night Club at Tofoa to watch the dancing.

He said at the end of the dancing at 4 am the following morning the two women walked out of the club and noticed Siaosi standing outside the entrance. They walked to a Chinese shop on Taufa'ahau road and he followed them there.

Siaosi then approached the girls and started asking the complainant where she lived. She said that she was living with her married sister and her husband Siale. The accused then told the complainant that he was related to her brother in law and relayed how they were connected.

The Chief Justice added that when the girls asked the accused his name he only gave them his first name Siaosi. While at the shop the security guard told them they were not allowed to linger around, at the same time another security guard from the neighbouring property exchanged words with the accused, as they knew each other.

The Chief Justice added that Seini then wanted to go home and because the complainant trusted the accused at this time as he claimed to be related to her brother in law then decided that they would walk and drop Seini home first as her house was nearer at Tofoa.

Assault

As the complainant walked back with the accused to drop her home he pulled her by the hair and dragged her under a breadfruit tree, where she was slammed on the ground. Siaosi then indecently assaulted and attempted to rape the complainant while she yelled for help.

The Chief Justice said the complainant in her evidence said that at this time she knew that she was about to be raped and then she heard a voice and a boy walked past and she yelled to him to help.

Siaosi then yelled out to the boy to continue walking because everything was fine, but when the complainant yelled for help again the boy walked back and knowing this the accused ran off into the night.

Chief Justice Ford said that the identification evidence during the jury trial resulted in Siaosi being clearly identified by the two women and the security guard as the perpetrator. "The jury were correct in their verdict by finding you guilty," he said.

The court was told that Siaosi migrated from Ha'apai to Tongatapu in his high school years. He got married but had separated from his wife who now lives in New Zealand.

In 2007 Siaosi joined the army and lived with his uncle at Tofoa.

"I regard your offence very serious because after winning the trust of the complainant you took advantage of that trust in the most despicable way and used force subjecting her to indecent acts."

The Chief Justice added he was mindful that the court has a clear duty to deter others from such conduct and saw no good reason as to suspend any of the four years sentence.

Siaosi a first time offender serves his four years sentence at Hu'atolitoli Prison effective on June 4.