A 25 year old father of two was sentenced to 3 years imprisonment by the Suva High Court this morning after he pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

Vamarasi Motofaga of Rotuma admitted assaulting a 25 year old fellow villager during a drinking party on 10th September last year resulting in his death.

The two were drinking homebrew at Motofaga=s house when the deceased got angry and started punching the wall and table inside the house.

The court heard that Motofaga got up and tried to control the deceased and in the process he punched him.

Later he further assaulted him several times until another person intervened and stopped him.

He was taken to Rotuma hospital but was pronounced dead upon arrival.

A post mortem was conducted and it was revealed that he died due to injuries sustained to the brain.

High Court Judge Justice, Daniel Gounder while sentencing Motofaga took into account that his intention was not to kill the deceased but to stop him from damaging his property.

As a result he used excessive force resulting in fatal injuries to the deceased.

The Judge also took into account that Motofaga is a single father with two sons aged 4 and 2 years old.

Judge Gounder while sentencing him said that the offence was committed using excessive violence, resulting in a tragic loss of a human life.

He was sentenced to three years imprisonment with a non-parole period of 2 years.


Story by: Shalvin Deo