Results for From the Courts

A 29-year-old man was sentenced to two-years six-months imprisonment for causing serious bodily harm to his wife in a brutal attack using three weapons, on Tongatapu in 2022, after he became infuriated with gossip about his wife on Facebook. The judge said it was in the worst category of cases involving domestic violence that had come before the court.

Sione Matangi Malupo (35) was sentenced to two-years imprisonment for serious housebreaking and theft of goods, including Tongan crafts valued at around $11,600 from a home in Ma’ufanga.

Siosifa Vailima Tuita (52) was sentenced to 12-years imprisonment for manslaughter of his twin sister in Falaleu, Vava'u, last year. During sentencing today, Lord Chief Justice Whitten KC said the accused stabbed his sister multiple times with a knife, “in what can only be characterised as a heinous and tragic crime of extreme brutality.”

A prolific armed robber, Rodney Toki (27), must serve another two years in prison, to be added onto a 12 years sentence he is already serving, the Appeal Court ruled this month. “This is one of those rare cases where there is little if any hope of his rehabilitation. The protection of society requires that he remain imprisoned for a lengthy period, which properly reflects the total seriousness of his two distinct bouts of criminal offending," stated the Appeal Court ruling.

An appeal against a judgment of the Supreme Court, which awarded $50,000 damages to Mele Teusiva ‘Amanaki, in a long winding defamation suit against the Tonga Weekly newspaper and its former editor, Faka'osi Maama, was dismissed last week, by the Court of Appeal in Nuku'alofa. They published articles and a photograph on three occasions in 2014.

Uaine Palesi Fa (27) was sentenced to imprisonment by the Appeal Court, after overturning his suspended sentence initially imposed by the Supreme Court in 2022, for possession of 28.55 grams of cocaine in Vava'u.

Eight local people in Vava’u were sentenced to between three years to 13.5 years imprisonment for their opportunistic roles in handling blocks of cocaine from a large shipment, found washed up on 'Otualea Beach there in 2021. They were caught in an investigation that started when children at Holeva picked up a brick of cocaine on the beach and handed it in to authorities.

‘Uhila Tu’i (34) was sentenced today to 33-months imprisonment, on charges including carrying a firearm to resist arrest, when he shot at and missed a police officer during the search of a home, at Hala'ovave, Tongatapu, in 2021. The Chief Justice said the accused could have been charged with attempted murder.

Four men were found not guilty on possession of methamphetamine after a drug testing report was ruled inadmissible. The illicit drugs were alleged to have been seized on 23 December, 2022 at Tu'atakilangi.