Court clears four charged after man died in fight

A COURT has cleared four men charged with manslaughter of a drunken man who was being a nuisance in their residential area in Port Moresby three years ago.
Justice Panuel Mogish found that there was no direct evidence implicating brothers Moses and Steven Gibson Jr and found them not guilty of manslaughter by reason of provocation at the National Court in Waigani yesterday.
The court also acquitted their co-accused, Joe and his son Shane Hensen, because they each did not take part in the fight.
“The State concedes to the presence of provocation that the deceased was the instigator of all the fights that morning,” he said.
The judge also rejected the witness evidence from three of the relatives of the deceased.
The judge accepted the medical evidence as “evidence from an independent source”.
The judge ruled that the identification evidence from Shem Yalo and Alfed Tom was tainted because they were both drunk.
He said their state of intoxication affected their observation and he found Joe and Shane Hensen not guilty of the charge of manslaughter.
The incident occurred on Sept 8, 2015, when the victim returned from a party and went to the house of the Gibsons and started a fight with them