Man fined K500 for insulting family

By JACINTA COHLEE
A MAN charged with using insulting words against another person was fined K500 in the Lae District Court yesterday.
Magistrate Isaac Tjipet told Ben Douglas, 36, of Sirorota village in Sohe, Northern, that failure to pay the fine would result in a six-month term at Buimo prison.
Magistrate Tjipet said the offence came under section (7) of provoking or breaching the peace of the Criminal Code.
He told Douglas that it was against the law to use insulting words against another person in a public place. He said people needed to be careful with what they said to each other and conduct themselves respectfully.
“This type of behaviour is considered a sick thing in the society where it destroys the community,” Magistrate Tjipet said of the use of provocative and offensive language.
Magistrate Tjipet, in passing the sentence, took into account that Douglas was a first time offender, had pleaded guilty and showed remorse.
Douglas committed the offence last Saturday at St Martin’s Tais Papuan Compound in Lae, Morobe.
The complainant and her husband and two sons had gone to her parents’ house to discuss some family matters when the incident occurred.
An allegedly drunk Douglas swore at the complainant and her family for no reason.
When approached and asked by the complainant’s husband why he had sworn at them Douglas swung a bush knife at him and the pair grappled resulting in the husband suffering cuts to his fingers.
The court also noted from the police summary that Douglas had sworn at the complainant’s two sons and threatened to harm them.