Man accused of being an accomplice in robbery to stand trial

A-20-YEAR-OLD man from Gulf accused of being an accomplice in the robbing of employees of China Harbour Engineering will stand trial at the National Court in Waigani, Port Moresby.
Magistrate Ernest Wilmot committed Gilbert Farisa, from Moveave village, Malalaua in Gulf, on one count of armed robbery on Friday at the Waigani committal court.
Farisa was remanded at Bomana prison and will return to the committal court on March 18 for his statement.
“The findings of the charges are sufficient to warrant prima facie evidence. Having assess to the statements provided by the witnesses of the police, the court finds that there’s sufficient evidence to commit the accused to trial,” Wilmot ruled. Police alleged that on Nov 30, 2017 at around 10am, Farisa was in the company of seven other armed men.
They entered the administration office of the China Harbour Engineering located at the National Research Institute (NRI) compound in Port Moresby.
They travelled in a grey Toyota Camry bearing a fake registration plate, entered and stopped in front of the administration complex.
The vehicle dropped off four suspects while Farisa was still in the vehicle when it was exiting the complex.
However, when the security officials opened the gate for the vehicle to leave, they stopped halfway in the middle of the gate, preventing the gate from closing.
It was alleged that the four suspects who were dropped off earlier went into the building and held up the employees of the company.
Police alleged that Farisa and the other suspects made off with K21,000 in cash and other items worth K12,000.
Farisa was later identified through the compound’s CCTV footage.