Lihir man gets 40 years for murder

THE National Court in New Ireland last week sentenced a 20-year-old man to 40 years in jail for wilful murder.
The accused, John Piki Ipun, was found guilty of the brutal murder of a youth on Lihir Island.
The court heard that on the evening of June 26 last year, the accused and six other men ambushed the victim and two of his friends at their home and brutally attacked them with sticks, stones, a knife and hot iron rods.
Ipun and his friends had blamed the three men of murdering his brother, Felix Ipun.
The court heard the victims were brutally attacked and forced to confess to the killing while their hands and legs were tied.
Evidence tendered in court revealed the accused attacked the deceased with bush knife on his hands, legs, back and across his abdomen causing his intestines to fall out.
Ipun and his friends then took the three victims and drove past the police station to the mourning place, where they were subjected to torture and humiliation until police intervened.
Justice Les Gavera Nanu said the victim was brutally attacked and murdered in cold blood.
“The deceased was innocent, harmless and defenceless and this is the worst case that attracts the maximum penalty of life imprisonment,” he said.
He told Ipun if he had acted alone he would not hesitate to sentence him to life in jail.
Gavera said after 35 years of independence people must respect the laws of the country and “this kind of killing must stop”.
He said police were there to enforce law and order and such matters should be reported to the proper authority.
Minus time spent in custody, Ipun will serve 39 years and two months in jail.