State wants tougher penalty for rogue cop

The State has called for a tougher and deterrent custodial sentence to be placed on a policeman found guilty of killing two men at Garden Hills in Port Moresby three years ago.
During submissions on sentence for convicted policeman Komeng Gubag last Friday, State lawyer Lilly Jack told the court that two innocent lives were lost.
Therefore, she said, such penalties were necessary to deter similar incidents from happening in future.
Gubag, 34, from Sumkar’s Wakon village in Madang, is facing murder and wilful murder charges following the shooting dead of Ivan Neso and Laki Yamo in Oct 2021.
“A tougher and deterrent custodial sentence should be imposed, taking into account two lives were lost,” Jack said, adding that a policeman with a firearm had taken away these two harmless and innocent lives.
She, therefore, asked the court to impose a penalty of life imprisonment, or 20 to 30 years in prison with hard labour, given the nature of the case.
Gubag’s lawyer David Dotaona asked the court to consider mitigating factors that Gubag had cooperated with police and handed himself over to the authorities the next day after the incident.
Counsel also pointed out that he had prior good record, had been a good servant of the Police Force and the State for 10 years (2011 to 2021) as a member of the NCD Dog Unit based at Bomana, came from a good family background, had expressed remorse and that there was no pre-planning.
The two killings had happened within a short space of time.
Dotaona submitted that on the offence of murder of Neso, Gubag be sentenced to 15 years imprisonment with hard labour. On the offence of wilful murder of Yamo, Gubag be sentenced to 20 years imprisonment with hard labour, and that the sentence on murder and wilful murder be served concurrently and that Gubag serve an effective sentence of 15 to 20 years of imprisonment in hard labour.
Gubag, when reading out a statement in allocutus to the court, expressed remorse and relayed his “heartfelt” condolences to the families of the deceased.
National Court judge Justice Teresa Berrigan reserved her decision after hearing submissions.