Results for From the Courts

'Emilio To‘a this morning changed his plea to guilty to an alternative charge of manslaughter in the death of Siaosi ‘Okusitino Tupa, who died after being stabbed multiple times with a knife during a drunken brawl at Fangaloto in March, 2018.

The 16 men and one woman arrested in a major drugs operation in Tongatapu over the Easter weekend remain in custody pending bail hearing.

A re-offender, Pouono ‘Aisake (29) was sentenced to six-years imprisonment after pleading guilty to causing grievous bodily harm, when he hit a Senior Police Constable with a machete on the head, in August 2018. The judge found that the accused when angry poses a serious danger to society.

Paula Naitoko (59) is the Senior Customs Officer charged in relation to a major seizure of drugs by Tonga Customs Officers on April 23 at the Queen Salote Wharf.

Lisiate ‘Otuhouma is the 28-year-old man charged after being arrested with three kilograms of methamphetamine at his home in Fahefa on April 17.

A deceitful senior loans officer, Finau Heuifanga Vea was convicted of embezzling more than $70,000 pa’anga from her employer, Five Star Finance in 2015. She is remanded in custody for sentencing at the Supreme Court in Nuku'alofa.

The cases against two Tongan Cabinet Ministers, one over a stolen cow and the other for disobeying a Port Master’s direction in regards to his vessels, are pending at the Fasi Magistrate's Court in Nuku'alofa.

A Sri Lankan citizen, Mr Vaseeth Samsudeen received a fully suspended sentence after using a forged French passport to enter Tonga and attempting to depart from Tonga, in May last year.

One of New Zealand’s largest bus companies – Ritchies Transport Holdings –pleaded guilty before an Auckland court on Monday to failing to comply with New Zealand healthy and safety regulations in relation to a bus crash in 2016 near the city of Gisborne in which three Tongan passengers died.