‘Defective info’ forces court to strike out case

A 32-YEAR-OLD man charged with carrying compressed drugs (marijuana) had his case struck out by Boroko District Court Magistrate Rosie Johnson in a special sitting last Monday, because of defective information.
Police prosecutor Elias Yohang according to a police brief stated that the accused had 50 grams of the drug on him, however, Johnson found the information defective as the arresting officer stated a different amount which did not match with the information from the prosecutor.
“As the prosecutor, you should go through the information first and get it corrected before bringing it to court even though it’s not your doing,” Johnson said.
She warned David Mentai to stop trading drugs and find other means of making money.
“If you can’t survive here, then a 32-year-old man like you should go back to your village to make gardens to survive,” she said.
Mentai, from Erave in Southern Highlands, was charged with being in possession of a dangerous drug at Akuku Bridge in Veimauri, Central.
The court heard that Mentai was caught in possession on Dec 28 by a police highway patrol and spent two days in custody.