Man sentenced 13 years for murder

A TWENTY-year-old man was sentence for 13 years with hard labour for killing a two-year-old boy.
Justice Graham Ellis, on his National Court circuit to Porgera last month, found Joshua Leya Maliwa guilty of manslaughter under section 302 of the Criminal Code.
According to eyewitnesses’ statements, a fight broke out between Dick Nickson and Jack Kapia at a party in the home of Porgera Development Authority chairman Nickson Mangape  at 2am on Sept 28, 2008.
Maliwa testified that he and everyone at the party were drunk and that he had no intention of killing the boy.
Justice Ellis said alcohol consumption was the cause of trouble in the case but the mitigating factors were the guilty plea and the expression of remorse.
“They choose to get drunk, and therefore, no excuse for a lesser sentence,” he added.