The State v “W” (2010) N3889

• Jurisdiction: Papua New Guinea
• Date: 11 February 2010
• Citation: (2010) N3889
• Docket Number: CR 655 of 2009
• Court: National Court
• Year: 2010

Full Title: CR 655 of 2009; The State v “W” (2010) N3889

National Court: Ellis J

Judgment Delivered: 11 February 2010

CRIMINAL LAW—sentence following plea—grievous bodily harm—offender injured his brother’s wife with bush knife—loss of substantial portion of the right foot - no prior convictions - sentence of imprisonment with hard labour for 3 years—Criminal Code, s319

Cases cited:

State v Ete Lem (CR313 of 209, Wabag, Ellis J, 9 February 2010); The State v Nickson Pari (No 2) (2001) N2033; The State v Vincent Naiwa (2004) N2710; The State v Ambe Tu (2008) N3306; The State -v- Kopol Hiol :CR No 538 of 2008 (Unreported & Unnumbered Judgment of 12 May 2008)

JUDGMENT ON SENTENCE

1. ELLIS, J: Yesterday morning this offender pleaded guilty to a charge of doing grievous bodily harm to his brother’s wife with a bush knife which charge was brought under s319 of the Criminal Code, an offence for which the maximum penalty is 7 years’ imprisonment.

The evidence

2 The hand-up brief was tendered and became Exhibit A while the medical report became Exhibit B. What appears in those documents is summarised below.

Circumstances of the offence

3 On 25 June 2008 the offender swung his bush knife twice at the victim: the first blow missed the head of the victim; the second struck the victim on the right foot. The statement of the victim suggests that there was a dispute between them over some vegetables.

Circumstances of the offender

4 When interviewed by the police, the offender said there was a dispute over some vegetables and went on to say that the victim called him “weak balls” in public and that she has previously humiliated him many times by saying that he was an AIDS infected person. The offender admitted that he had an affair with a woman and contracted a disease. He said that he was introduced to that woman by the victim which would suggest that he also blames her for his predicament.

5 The Antecedent Report suggests that the offender is a single man who was educated to Grade 9 standard and has no prior convictions.

Circumstances of the victim

6 To only consider the circumstances of the offence and the circumstances of the offender would be to overlook an important consideration: the circumstances of the victim. When the victim was examined at the Wabag General Hospital on the day of the incident, “the wound was so deep that the foot was partially severed with only the skin forming the sole of the foot remaining intact”. As the bones in the foot were...