Magistrate advises suspect

A magistrate has told a man accused of robbing a private clinic in Port Moresby to return to his village and do gardening to earn a living.
“Look at me – I remove your case so you go back to your village and do gardening,” Waigani committal court Magistrate Paul Puri Nii told Robert Petrus on Wednesday.
“If I see you again in court, you will be in Bomana for some years.”
Petrus, 19, from Single village in Henganofi, Eastern Highlands, was charged with armed robbery.
Police prosecution asked the court for another adjournment to prepare the investigation files.
However, Nii refused the request and struck out the case due to lack of police evidence. Police alleged that on Jan 22, at 12.35pm, at Nanga Medical Centre in Gordon, Port Moresby, Petrus, with seven others were armed with two factory-made pistols and robbed staff, patients and customers.
Petrus allegedly with his accomplices entered the clinic as pretending to be patients, and as soon as they arrived inside the premises, they robbed the clinic.
Police alleged that Petrus and seven others stole about K1,600 from the clinic and another K4,000 from customers, including a laptop, and seven valuable phones.
Petrus was later captured on Jan 25 at his home at Gordon.