Alcohol-related murders rise

By GIDEON KINDIWA
ALCOHOL-related murder cases are on the rise, says a senior judge when he sentenced a man to 17 years in jail for killing another man while under the influence of alcohol.
Justice Panuel Mogish at the Waigani National Court yesterday sentenced Ray Morgan, 26, from Kairuku in Central for killing Willie Kausu on Dec 16, 2017, at Joyce Bay Settlement in Port Moresby.
“This is yet another case where the death of a person has resulted by the consumption of alcohol,” Mogish said.
Earlier this week, Mogish sentenced Guba Joe to eight years with hard labour for punching Moses Dawanicura, who fell and injured his head on a concrete floor and died during an alcohol-related brawl at Hanuabada, Port Moresby.
Mogish said murder cases are on the rise in Port Moresby as well as other parts of the country and most of them were alcohol related.
When reading Morgan’s sentence, Mogish said an autopsy report revealed that the cause of Kausu’s death was an acute haemorrhage to the brain due to blunt trauma to the head and a contributing factor was declared to be alcohol intoxication.
Both the convict and the deceased were intoxicated during the time of the offence. It was around 3am when residents at the settlement were awoken by sounds of people fighting and dogs barking.
A number of people went out and saw Morgan kicking and stepping on the deceased’s neck several times.
The deceased was lying unconscious.
A woman yelled for Morgan to stop so he stopped kicking the deceased and quickly left.
The deceased was rushed to Port Moresby General Hospital but he died a short time after.
During his plea, Morgan said he was with his wife when the deceased came and provoked him by swearing at them.
He said he did not intend to kill him and asked for a suspended sentence since he has two children aged five and three to look after.
Mogish said there was no evidence suggesting an act of provocation and the defendant stopped kicking the victim only when a woman yelled for him to stop.