State asks for 32 years for Kapris

National, Normal
Source:

The National, Thursday 18th April 2013

 By ELIAS NANAU

STATE prosecutors have asked for a jail sentence of 32 years after William Nanua Kapris was found guilty of robbing a couple of K400,000 and gold valuables.

Kapris was found guilty of kidnapping, robbery and unlawful use of vehicle.

Deputy Chief Justice Gibbs Salika will sentence Kapris next Wednesday.

Kapris, who denied the charges, asked Salika at the National Court in Port Moresby yesterday that he be transferred from the Bomana prison near Port Moresby to the Lakiemata jail in Kimbe, West New Britain, to be near his children.

He also apologised in court to the people of Papua New Guinea and the government for his various crimes and asked for a lenient sentence. 

He promised to serve his prison terms fully.

Kapris was accused robbing an Italian couple in Port Moresby of almost K400,000 cash and gold valuables in 2007. 

 “Mi tok sori long ol narapela rong mi bin mekim. Mi tok sori long gavman na pipol bilong PNG (I am sorry for the wrongs I have committed. I apologise to the government and the people of PNG),” he said. 

He told the court that prison officials at Bomana mistreated him.

“Mi no stap gut long dispela haus kalabus (I am not at peace here),” he told Justice Salika.

“Ol ino mekim gut long mi, bai mi ranawe (If I am not being treated well in prison, I’ll escape).”

He said he wanted to become a reformed person in the community after serving his full term.

Kapris said his six children were looked after by his parents in Kimbe and he would like to be near them.

He also asked the court to consider his health because of the gunshot wounds on his body and hypertension. 

He said the last time he saw a doctor was in 2010 in Madang.

Public Solicitors Office lawyer Jeffrey Mesa asked the court to consider the case on its own merit, considering that no one was hurt during the robbery and there was no eyewitness account that Kapris was directly involved in it.

State prosecutors had submitted that Kapris was a “habitual criminal” and most of his offences were committed after he escaped from lawful custody.