Lae committal court summons officer to explain delay

THE Lae committal court on Friday summoned an officer in charge of an armed robbery case to appear on the final adjournment date set by the court.
Magistrate Lorna Sani heard that suspects Yakari Mathew, 23, of Benaria village in Komo-Margarima, Hela; James Wamil Gul, 22, of Dinga village, Sinasina-Yonggomugl, Chimbu; and, Nobert Bal, 19, of Mape village in Finschhafen, Morobe, who had been in custody for four months, had yet to be interviewed by the investigating officer.
The court gave the officer two weeks to conduct the interviews and set the final adjournment date for Sept 12.
Sani then issued a summons to policeman Christopher Manguva from the Lae Central Police Station to appear to explain why he had not interviewed the suspects.
It was alleged that on April 6 the defendants, who were drunk and armed with homemade guns and a knife, violently robbed two men of K600 and two mobile phones at Tari market bus stop in Kamkumung, Lae, Morobe.
The police hand-up brief in court stated that one of the defendants pretended to stop the bus at Tari market while the others took out their weapons and robbed the passengers.
The suspects panicked thinking a police patrol would come by and only managed to rob the two victims before fleeing into Kamkumung settlement.