Court getting tough on offenders

THE Mt Hagen Committal Court will not grant bail to offenders charged with serious crimes, magistrate Lydia Karre says.
The District Court magistrate said this yesterday when she refused bail to Sasai Honda, 26, from Baiyer district in Western Highlands.
Honda was charged with raping an underage girl on the 15th of last month at Kenegerika village in Baiyer.
Karre told Honda that the crime he allegedly committed was “very serious and court can’t use its discretion to allow you bail”. She told him that she didn’t stop him from applying for bail.
“You can engage a lawyer to make formal application in (the National Court) and the court will decide,” she said. She told him that his files were not ready. She adjourned the matter to July 15 for police investigators to complete his file.