The State v Patrick Jul (2005) N3167

• Jurisdiction: Papua New Guinea
• Date: 22 December 2005
• Citation: (2005) N3167
• Docket Number: CR NO. 1839 of 2005
• Court: National Court
• Year: 2005

Full Title: CR NO. 1839 of 2005; The State v Patrick Jul (2005) N3167

National Court: Kandakasi, J

Judgment Delivered: 22 December 2005

DECISION ON SENTENCE

CRIMINAL LAW - Compensation—Prisoner wishing to pay—No secure source—Attitude of victim not obtained—No input from community leaders - Inappropriate to order compensation.

CRIMINAL LAW—Sentence—Particular offence - Grievous bodily harm to superior at workplace—Provocation in non-legal sense by alleged adverse report against prisoner - Victim’s 11th rib fractured with good recovery—Guilty plea—First time offender—Prevalence of offence - No compensation paid and having no means to pay—Pre-sentence report not balanced - Custodial sentence appropriate—2 years 6 months imposed—Criminal Code s319.

Cases cited:

Roger Jumbo and Aidan Awatan v The State (26/03/97) SC516; Imiyo Wamela v. The State [1982] PNGLR 269.; Koniel Alar and Hosea Biu v. The State [1979] PNGLR 300; The State v Vincent Naiwa (22/06/04) N2710; The State v. Isaac Wapuri [1994] PNGLR 271; The State v Philip Susuve Raipa [1994] PNGLR 458; The State v. Apa Kuman (20/12/00) N2047 The State v. Nickson Pari (N0.2) (10/01/00) N2033 The State v. Darius Taulo (15/12/00) N2034; The State v Kenny Reuben Irowen [2002] PNGLR 190; The State v Henry Idab (17/12/01) N2172; The State v. Eddie John Naopa (24/04/03) N2411; The State v. Marety Ame Gaidi (26/0802) N2279; The State v. Louise Paraka (2002) N2317.

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1. KANDAKASI, J: You pleaded guilty to one charge of causing grievous bodily harm to another person, namely Dennis Weheren at the Bewani Health Centre on 13 March 2003, here in the West Sepik Province.

2. Following your guilty plea, the State admitted into evidence with your consent the District Court depositions. I was then satisfied that, there was sufficient evidence supporting the charge and your eventual guilty plea. I therefore accepted and confirmed your guilty plea and had you convicted on the charge of grievous bodily harm as presented under s319 of the Criminal Code.

3. After your address on your sentence, your lawyer applied for a pre-sentence and means assessment report. The Probation Services here in Vanimo have now furnished the report required of them. I note that, the report has no input from the victim and his relatives. Similarly, I noted that, there was no input from the police and any impartial leader in the community indicating their position in relation to the kind of sentence they would want to see you receive. This is important because the Court needs to know, whether they would welcome a non-custodial sentence and if so, what part they would play in a fulfilment of any terms or conditions, the Court might impose as an alternative to sending you to prison to serve your time.

Relevant Facts

4. Turning now to the relevant facts, I note that during the day on 13 May 2003, you went to the then Officer in Charge of the Bewani Health Centre, the victim of your offence. That was over your feeling bad about some confidential report concerning you and a death of a patient. At that time, you served at the same Health Centre as a Community Health Worker. There are two conflicting accounts as to how you caused the grievous bodily harm to the victim. One of them is your own account to the police in the record of interview and the other is the victim’s account supported by the other evidence.

5. The victim’s version is that when you went to see the victim, you went armed with a piece of big stick (witnesses describe it has a log). As soon as you entered the victim’s office, you stood on the other side of his table, picked up his diary and started to read his entries in it. Soon an argument between the victim and you erupted and you used the stick you walked in with to strike the victim across his mouth on the jaw line causing him to bleed right away. You struck the second time with the same stick and that landed on the left side of the victim’s rib cage. That resulted in a fracture of his 11th rib. You struck the third time, this time the victim lost his balance and fell on the floor, and you continue to hit with the stick until the stick broke off on victim’s forearm when he raised it to block of further attacks. The victim thought you were going to kill him.

6. Upon the breaking of the stick, you stopped further attacks of the victim and left. The victim in the meantime crawled out of the office with blood coming down from his face. As soon as he got out of his office, his wife went for his help and walked him home. After leaving him at the house, the victim’s wife went and arranged for the police motor vehicle, which transported the victim to the Vanimo General Hospital the same day. The victim was in a lot of pain until medically treated and he eventually recovered from the injuries you inflicted upon him.

7. Your version tells the same story with a number of variations. First, you say you went to see the...