Results for From the Courts

The Tongan Court of Appeal has dismissed appeals against conviction and sentence brought by former Member of Parliament Vatau Hui, upholding his convictions for indecent assault and common assault against a woman. “In some ways it is an aggravating factor that the appellant was a Member of Parliament; he is someone who ought to have set an example in law-abiding conduct as a leader of the community,” the judgment said.

A Pea man who attacked two family members with a machete during a heated family dispute has been sentenced to two years and three months’ imprisonment, fully suspended for three years, by the Supreme Court of Tonga. During sentencing, Lord Chief Justice Bishop KC stressed the seriousness of machete violence in Tonga.

A new Justice of the Supreme Court of Tonga, Hon, Mr. Edward Targowski KC was formally sworn in on 4 May 2026, at a ceremony held at the Cabinet room, in Nuku'alofa.

Talikavili Loloa has been sentenced to three years and six months’ imprisonment for a series of offences in 2024, including violent nighttime attacks on two women in their homes, alongside charges of housebreaking and theft.

A Supreme Court judge has convicted a man of arranging the transport of more than five kilograms of methamphetamine, while acquitting his co-accused, in a case involving the evidence of police informants in Nuku'alofa.

A 42-year-old man has been found guilty of housebreaking and theft after a late-night home invasion in Sopu where the victim, Robina Nakao, was threatened with a knife and robbed of more than $6,000 paʻanga in cash and valuables. The court heard that the intruder repeatedly threatened to kill the victim.

The Land Court has ordered Yong Chen to vacate a restaurant business he was operating unlawfully in a building on a town allotment in Vaini, after granting an eviction order in favour of the registered allotment holder.

‘Aminiasi Fonua Liku will spend two and a half years behind bars for breaking into the home of an elderly woman in Nukunuku and stealing goods worth $16,490 — including valuable Tongan handicrafts.

A man caught with methamphetamine, cannabis and ammunition after fleeing police in Halaleva will spend nearly two years behind bars, with Tonga's Chief Justice warning that drug dealers can expect “stern custodial sentences.”