Man fined K500 for carrying knife

By JAMES GUMUNO
THE Hagen District Court has imposed a K500 fine or in default six months in Baisu jail on a young man for carrying a bush knife in his trousers into Mt Hagen, Western Highlands.
Senior provincial magistrate Betty Jacob told Abraham Noka, 26, from Porgera in Enga, that the maximum penalty for carrying an offensive weapon was a fine not exceeding K4,000 and a jail term of up to two years.
She, however, took into consideration that he was a first-time offender.
Noka was sighted by police at Chinatown Street on Friday and taken to the police station where he was charged with possession of an offensive weapon.
Noka, who appeared in court from police custody, pleaded guilty and told the court yesterday that he carried the bush knife into the city for security reasons.
He told the court that he was a street seller at the mining township of Porgera and he went into Mt Hagen to buy goods for his street sales
He told the court that last week, he had carried more than K500 into Hagen to buy goods and he also carried a bush knife to protect himself from criminals.
Magistrate Jacob said that carrying offensive weapons into the city was against the law.
She said that many people carried bush knives into the city giving security reasons as an excuse but used them to commit crimes.
She said that the law was very clear and forbade anyone carrying offensive weapons into the city, even the city authority’s law says no to anyone carrying offensive weapons into the city.
Jacob told the defendant that the maximum penalty for carrying offensive weapon was a fine not exceeding K4,000 and a jail term not more than two years.
Prosecutor Jeffrey Tawit told the court that the accused was a first-time offender and had no prior conviction.
Jacob said that the court would not impose maximum penalty since he was a first-time offender.
She ordered him to pay a K500 court or in default six months in Baisu jail.