Compo deal attracts court warning

COMPLAINANTS have been warned to be serious when they lodge a complaint with police and have the matter brought before a court.
Mt Hagen District Court magistrate Donald Josepi said in court yesterday that police and the court were putting time and effort into every case that came before them.
He said that once the complaint was lodged with the police and worked on, it was a police case.
“Any complainant wishing to withdraw your case and settle it outside with compensation, you will face the law and the offenders will be set free for wasting police and the court’s time,” he said.
Josepi said this yesterday when a complainant asked the court to discontinue his case and release the two accused.
The complainant told the court that it was expensive for him to travel to attend court and he would therefore like to have the matter settled out of court through the payment of compensation.
Prosecutor Philip Poko made a formal application and the court struck out the case and set the two men free.
Josepi told the complainant not to do it again because he was wasting both the court and police time.
He told him that if he was serious about pursing his case and reported the matter to police then he should prove it in court.
“You are not the only one we are dealing with, so stop wasting our time,” he warned the complainant.
Meanwhile, Josepi told police to ensure that accused in police custody or in jail did not have a mobile phone in their possession.