Magistrate expresses frustration

A SENIOR magistrate in Lae has expressed frustration with police investigators and arresting officers whose failure to complete investigations and advise the prosecution have delayed criminal cases.
Lae District Court Magistrate Tera Dawai said the court had received complaints from the public, remandees, police and Correctional Services officers about over-crowding in police cells and Buimo prison.
He said investigators handling criminal cases needed to speed up their investigations, complete their reports and update the court and prosecution. Magistrate Dawai said detainees in custody were human beings like everyone else and it was not good to lock them away like livestock and prolong investigations.
He said three to four months given by the court (as practice and not by law) should be enough for police to complete their investigations and report back to the court.
Magistrate Dawai made the remarks after the court was informed yesterday by the prosecution that investigations of four men accused of killing another man in Lae in August were not ready.