Gulf youth to stand trial for murder

 By ILA PAILAEA

A YOUTH charged with the murder of another man at 9-Mile, outside Port Moresby, last May, has been committed to stand trial in the National Court.

Presiding magistrate Sinclair Gora told the accused, Allan Andrew, 19, of Belepa, Ihu district, Gulf, that 

the evidence presented before the court was sufficient for the court to commit him to stand trial for 

murder. 

The testimonies of witnesses at the scene of the fight, together with the medical report of the deceased, were sufficient to prove that the accused and another man were responsible for the death of one Phillip Oii Kairu, 35, from Kukipi, in Malalaua, Gulf.

The court heard that on the night of May 15, 2010, between 6pm and 8pm, Andrew and Ian Peter (co-accused), both under the influence of alcohol and while walking, were alleged to have bumped into Kairo’s three-year-old child.

The victim was also intoxicated. 

A brawl then erupted between the three men and resulted in the victim suffering stab wounds to the neck.

Kairo was also stoned on the head. 

He was taken to the hospital for treatment but later died from the wounds. 

Andrew denied killing Kairo but he did admit that there was a fight between the co-accused and the deceased. 

Andrew escaped after being arrested on the charge of murder. 

Relatives later brought him to the police and he has since appeared for his case while in custody at Bomana Correctional Services facility. 

The defence decided not to make any submission in response to the police hand-up brief.

Andrew will appear next month at the National Court.