Results for sentencing

Two men were jailed for charges including possession of 0.60 grams of methamphetamine and utensils, after they were busted during a ping pong game in June this year. Two other co-accused received suspended sentences.

Kesomi Taufa (35) received a suspended sentence on conditions after being found guilty for possession of 0.03 grams of methamphetamine in Ma’ufanga.

Sione Talafekau Maloni (20) was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment fully suspended for causing serious bodily harm, when he poured gasoline over his sleeping friend’s clothes and set him alight, in what was said to have been “a joke”. Mercifullly, the friend suffered only superficial burns to his abdomen.

Samiu Langa’oi (42) was jailed for four months, for the destruction of evidence, when he crushed a cannabis plant from a bucket outside his house, and unlawful possession of drugs utensil in Leimatu’a, Vava’u.

Tevita Halatokoua (26) was sentenced to two years imprisonment, with part suspended, for possession of over 2.77 grams of methamphetamine seized in over 20 packets and other items used for dealing drugs in Nuku’alofa.

Pousima Vaioleti (29) was sentenced to 24 months imprisonment, with the last four months suspended, for the theft of a vehicle and other items valued at $50,580 from a 73-year-old man with hearing impairment in his home at Vaini. "I am quite satisfied that you have conducted a life of crime. It further seems to me, that you are not very good at it,” the Lord Chief Justice told the accused at sentencing, in the Supreme Court in Nuku’alofa.

Viliami Lokotui (31) was sentenced to two and a half years imprisonment with the final six months suspended for charges that included possession of 2.69 grams of methamphetamine, at a residence in Malapo.

Tevita Kauvaka Loto’aniu (28) was jailed for nine months for possession of illicit drugs, including 1.42 grams of methamphetamine seized at a residence in Houmakelikao in January earlier this year.

Kepueli Christopher Mafi (32) was sentenced to four and a half years imprisonment for dangerous driving causing the death of ‘Ahotau Taufu’i, who was walking on the side of the road at Nualei, in the early morning of 20 November 2022. The accused drove off, while the victim’s body was found by others.