Agoara Kebo and Karunai Uraki v The State

• Jurisdiction: Papua New Guinea
• Citation: (1981) SC198
• Date: 27 May 1981
• Court: Supreme Court
• Year: 1981

Supreme Court: Kidu CJ, Kapi J, Miles J

Judgment Delivered: 27 May 1981 or 24 March 1981

1 Criminal law—appeal against sentence—sorcery—where reasons for sentence not available on appeal, the Supreme Court may for the first time exercise its own discretion on sentence

2 CRIMINAL LAW—appeal against sentence—sorcery.

Where reasons for sentence not available on appeal the Supreme Court may for the first time exercise its own discretion on sentence.

Chief Justice: To do justice in appeals, reasons if orally given should be reduced to writing and furnished to the Supreme Court.

Miles J: Observations on proper evidentiary basis to be supplied to the court on the belief and extent of belief in sorcery for purposes of sentence.

Secretary for Law v Witrasep Binengim [1975] PNGLR 172, Cowell v Cowell (1954) 71 WN (NSW) 217, William Norris v The State [1979] PNGLR 605 and Lewis v The Independent State of Papua New Guinea [1980] PNGLR 219 referred to

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Kidu CJ:

This is an appeal by two men who pleaded guilty to a charge of wilful murder. They were each sentenced to be imprisoned with hard labour for a period of eight years.

The learned trial judge made some remarks on sentence but such remarks have not been provided to this court. His Honour's notes on the case read:

"15th August 1980—Goroka—9.30 am.

Interpreter Steven Emissen.

Pidgin—English Sworn

Miss Bourke for Prosecution

Arraignment—both say "true"

Mr Roddenby for each accused—no application—read deps. 10 safe

Plea—guilty as charged in each case

Verdict—guilty as charged in each case

Allocutus: Each says "nothing to say"

State tenders deps.

Antecedent reports—nothing else

Mr Roddenby

Second accused was not employed on rubber plantation but was employed as a cook last year for less than a year—returned to village when father died—straw that broke the camel's back—typical case of killing of sorcerer—on same day just before accused had been attacked by four others with sticks as a sorcerer—deceased denied any knowledge—they (accused) were annoyed by his off–hand attitude—there was a fight between the two lines—the four people hit him, then the two accused killed him—accused supposed to have killed 18 men and Kalunai's father—Kalunai—standard 1—single—father dead—17 years of age—no...