J
Faga for the Crown
Mrs M Samuel for the accused
SENTENCE
(LUNGOLE-AWICH,
J):
Patricia Melvin Kala, the accused, is aged 27 years. She has been convicted
on her plea of guilty to manslaughter under
s: 199(1) and (2) of the Penal
Code in Chapter 5 in the Laws of Solomon Islands. On 16.4.1998 she
unlawfully caused the death of her husband, Jack Kala, by stabbing
him on
the base of the neck with a cereted kitchen knife. The knife has a sharp
pointed blade measuring 10.3 centimetres.
Mitigating factors in favour of Mrs Kala are that she pleaded guilty, she
has a 7 year old child to look after, she, the
deceased and others had been
drinking and may have been easily inflamed by arguments. More importantly is
that her husband
attacked her first when she demanded that he was to stop
drinking, he held her on the neck to strangle her and struck at her
with a
grass slasher, she sustained pain and bruises in the altercation. I also
note that her husband and her frequently
fought. She has been in prison
custody since 16.4.1998, some 1 year ago today. Now her husband is dead,
though by her
own hand; she will now live with that unpleasant memory. It
has been a sorry story in the family.
I
must, however, take into at that when she stabbed herd her husband, it was a
sort of pay-back; their quarrel had calmed
down, when she came over to where
her husband was drinking and restarted the quarrel. The Court has to punish
the facts
of the crime appropriately. The punishment must reflect justice in
the facts of the case, it must suit the offence and the
offender. The law
intends that manslaughter be regarded as a serious offence; it directs the
maximum penalty of life
imprisonment in the worse case of manslaughter.
I
have noted the three cases citedearned counsel Ms Samuel anel and the fact
that in two of them the deceased were relatives.
In R -v- Freda Fagarigia
HC CrC 35 of 1990, accused killed his own sister, the sentence was 2� years
imprisonment. In R -v- Gabriel Waiko and Martin Manehai, HC CrC 19 of
1998, accused killed their brother who had injured a relative. Compensation
had been paid. They were sentenced
to 2 years imprisonment. In another case
not cited today, R -v- Tuanitete, HC CrC 29 of 1992, accused killed a
brother; he used a rake, he was imprisoned for 4 years.
With all due respect, I think that unless there are exceptional onal mitigating
factors, punishing manslaughter whereat
weapon has been used, with 2 years
imprisonment is too lenient. In this jurisdiction even theft and burglary is
often
punished with 2, 3 and even 4 years imprisonment. In this case I
cannot ignore the fact that accused used a rather dangerous
weapon to stab
the deceased who posed no danger of attacking her at the time. The deceased
had been held off by some
people and accused had run away. Accused
acceptedly acted in anger as the result of her having been struck with a
grass
slasher, although she was not cut.
Accused has right of appeal against sentence, she may note her appeal within
30 days.
Pronounced this Friday the 16th day of April 1999
At the High Court
Honiara
Sam Lungole-Awich
Judge
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