HIGH COURT OF SOLOMON ISLANDS

Criminal Case No.370 of 2007

THE QUEEN

–V-

BELA PITU AND BEN LIVAH

Date of Decision: 7 November 2007

Mr McColm for the Crown
Mr Squire for Bela Pitu
Mr Tovosia for Ben Livah

DECISION FOR SENTENCING

Cameron PJ

1	Bela Pitu appears for sentence for the offence of manslaughter. Ben Livah, his brother, appears for sentence for the offence of aiding and abetting that manslaughter.

2	There had been a long running land dispute between two family groups, dating back as far as 1982. The land is situated in Suvania Village in Paeloge, Gizo. A formal custom reconciliation of the dispute was attempted in 2000. Both the deceased Gideon Tahi and the defendant, Bela Pitu, representing opposing sides in the dispute, attended. The reconciliation failed because of the non-attendance of other key members.

3	Matters came to a head on 26 October 2005, when Bela Pitu, accompanied by his brother, Ben Livah, visited the homes of 3 families, including that of the deceased, Gideon Tahi, demanding that they move out by the next day. Gideon Tahi was the uncle of Bela Pitu.

4	Gideon Tahi told Bela Pitu that he would not leave, and the two started to argue. Bela Pitu started to hit Gideon Tahi, who in defence of himself retaliated with a punch or punches. People tried to intervene to stop the fight, but Ben Livah told them not to and pushed some of them away.

5	The fight continued for some minutes, and moved away from Gideon Tahi’s house and into a nearby area of darkness. It was then that Bela Pitu stabbed Gideon Tahi with a small knife. Gideon Tahi received six stab wounds to the upper part of his body.

6	Gideon Tahi collapsed to the ground. A Leslie Denny, who was one of those who Bela Pitu had earlier told to leave with his family, went to assist Gideon Tahi as he lay on the ground. He was prevented from doing so by Ben Livah and Bela Pitu, and was threatened with a knife and hit with a long stick.

7	A local truck was obtained and Gideon Tahi was loaded onto it, and taken as fast as possible to Gizo Hospital, about a 20 minute trip. He had died by the time he reached hospital.

8	It would appear from the medical report that the deceased bled to death from his wounds. He was 31 years old when he died.

9	Bela Pitu is now about 36 years old, and is married with 5 young children. While on bail he has been supporting his wife and children by farming and selling vegetables and by fishing. He is a carpenter by trade.

10	Ben Livah is now a 47 year old man, and is married with 6 children. He is unemployed.
11	I consider this offending to be towards the upper end of the scale for manslaughter in terms of seriousness. Bela Pitu in an agitated state deliberately confronted the deceased, demanding that he and his family leave their home and move out the very next day. On any view of the matter, that was an outrageous demand. Bela Pitu did not do this alone, but was bolstered by the company of his brother, Ben Livah.

12	When Gideon Tahi stood up to this bullying, for his efforts he was punched by Pitu, and thereafter a fight ensued. This took place in front of members of Gideon Tahi’ family.

13	During the fight Gideon Tahi received no less than 6 stab wounds from a knife in the possession of Pitu. It has to be remembered because of the darkness the actual stabbing of Gideon Tahi was not witnessed by anyone. Therefore, the exact circumstances that resulted in the stab wounds are not known. It is conceivable then that some of them were accidentally inflicted during the struggle.

14	It is not known how Bela Pitu came to be in possession of the knife. There is no evidence that Bela Pitu arrived at Gideon Tahi’s home with a knife. I therefore approach the matter on the basis that when he initially confronted Gideon Tahi, there is nothing to suggest that he intended to start a physical fight let alone produce a knife and use it as a weapon. In other words, I accept that what in fact occurred was not premeditated.

15	However, the fact is that Pitu started a fight and during the struggle an unarmed man received six stab wounds from a knife in the possession of Pitu, and bled to death as a result. On any view of the matter, this indicates a preparedness by Pitu to use a knife in a sustained way in a fight that he himself initiated. That is a serious aggravating feature of this offending.

16	My view of Ben Livah is that he acted in a cowardly fashion, actively intervening to prevent people from diffusing the situation. As Mr McColm for the Crown put it, had it not been for his actions in preventing people from stopping the fight, Gideon Tahi may have been alive today.

17	While there is no evidence that Ben Livah knew Pitu had the possession of a knife, the fact is that after Gideon Tahi had collapsed on the ground from knife wounds, Livah actively attempted to prevent Leslie Denny rendering assistance. In addition, Livah has pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting manslaughter, so a certain level of knowledge of the circumstances has to be imputed to him.

18	In all the circumstances, I fix the starting point for the manslaughter offence at eight and a half years imprisonment.

19	I take into account the fact that Bela Pitu has no previous convictions, appears to be otherwise a good citizen and family man, and has pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity. I make it clear that I do not discount the sentence at all for delay – while the offence occurred approximately 2 years ago, in the scheme of things that is not an inordinate delay. Also, apart from having been being in custody for a period of a little over four and a half months from the date of the offence to 7 March 2006, he was on bail from 7 March 2006 to 6 November 2007.

20	Taking into account the mitigating circumstances I have identified, I reduce the starting point of eight and a half years by 18 months. The result is that the defendant Bela Pitu is now sentenced to 7 year’s imprisonment. The time already spent in custody on what was originally a murder charge, namely 26 October 2005 to 7 March 2006, and the 2 days spent in custody on 6 and 7 November 2007 are to be taken into account and treated as time served in respect of the 7 years terms of imprisonment. I note for the record that the conviction for manslaughter was entered against Bela Pitu on 6 November 2007.

21	As for Ben Livah, he was convicted of the offence of aiding and abetting manslaughter on 6 November 2007. I fix a starting point for his sentence at 5 years imprisonment.

22	Taking into account the guilty plea at the earliest opportunity, the fact the he has no previous convictions, and the fact that he appears to be otherwise a responsible member of the community and a good family man, I deduct from the starting point a period of 12 months, leaving a term of 4 years. I am not prepared to discount it at all for delay, for the same reasons I expressed for Bela Pitu.

23	The result is that Ben Livah is now sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 4 years. As with Pitu, the time he spent in custody on the original charge of murder, being 26 October 2005 to 7 March 2006, and the 2 days spent in custody on 6 and 7 November 2007, are to be treated as time served on the four year term of imprisonment.

THE COURT