Court finds mother guilty of conspiracy

THE National Court in Madang has found a mother guilty of conspiracy in an armed robbery case committed in 2014.
Deputy Chief Justice Sir Gibb Salika last Thursday found Venessa Basse of Derimbat village in Manus guilty of stealing, using threats and unlawfully detaining one Zebedee Zongur in bushes against his will.
She later detained the man in a house against his will.
Zongur, who owned the Zheldland Finance Company in Madang, was allegedly kidnapped and robbed by Basse and others on January 7, 2014.
Salika said Basse had sent text massages to a girl identified in court as Emily Baling and Zongur and directed them to North Coast where they were held up by armed men.
The armed men tied up Zongur and Baling and put them in the back seat of Zongur’s vehicle and took them to some bushes at Vidar where they were detained for the whole day.
They were later taken to a house in Sisiak.
The court heard that Basse and two other men went to the Zheldland office and took cash from the safe. Basse, Zongur’s girlfriend, had access to the office keys and the safe.
Sir Gibbs said the incident was well planned.
Basse asked the court for leniency saying she had a baby who needed her care and attention.