Australian charged over death

By CLARISSA MOI
AN Australian accused of causing the death of another man in the National Capital District on Christmas Eve appeared in the Waigani Committal Court yesterday.
Police alleged that on Dec 24, at portion 450, Tamara road, 6-Mile, Graeme Grady, 52, of Harden, New South Wales, fired a gun which unintentionally caused the death of Jason Ugava.
Grady was charged with one count of manslaughter.
Magistrate Paul Nii adjourned the matter to March 10 to allow police time to investigate the incident.
The accused is out on a K1,000 bail and must report to the court registry every second Wednesday, not interfere with witnesses, not leave the city without permission and attend scheduled court dates.
Police alleged that on Dec 24 Grady had been inside the Hagina Hire compound at 6-Mile when he heard a loud commotion outside the property.
He walked to the gate and saw one of his employees being beaten by some men.
Other workers managed to drag the injured man into the compound and shut the gate.
Police alleged that the attackers continued to beat on the gate and Grady called the 6-Mile Police Station but got no response.
Grady went into his office and got a firearm, a 9mm pistol, and fired a shot to disperse the crowd.
The bullet allegedly hit a power line causing it to fall down.
The line landed on Ugava electrocuting him. He was rushed to Port Moresby General Hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival.
Police searched Grady’s office and recovered a spent casing of the round that was fired.
Grady was asked to surrender his gun but did not do so until Dec 28 when he went with his lawyer to the Boroko Police Station.
According to police, the gun’s registration had expired on Nov 15.
Grady’s bail was extended.