Eight men, who are alleged to have threatened to kill a Po­lice Constable and damaged Police property valued at $3095, were refused bail by the Magis­trate Court in Suva yesterday.

The accused men, Jone Vakarisi, Tevita Bulanaivalu, Ledua Gudru, Sekove Serukalou, Jese Sorovi, Toni Sokowasa, Chanel Antonio Afumarata and Mark Ross ap­peared before Magistrate Liyanage Wickramasekara.

Seven of the accused men request­ed for Legal Aid Commission rep­resentation while the first accused Vakarisi was represented by pri­vate lawyer Jitendra Reddy.

They are charged with one count of going equipped for theft, damag­ing property, two counts of criminal intimidation and one count each of resisting arrest.

On August 3, 2018 the men were alleged to have been equipped with cane knives with the intention of committing theft.

Without lawful excuse and with intent to cause harm, they allegedly threatened to kill Police Constable Waisale Senikavika.

And they wilfully and unlawfully damaged the window of the left rear door, its outer moulding, the rear windscreen, front bumper bar, left head lamp and bonnet of a Po­lice vehicle registration number GQ477.

They then allegedly resisted ar­rest from Police officers who were executing their duty.

Police prosecutor Corporal Ray­mond Filipe served the accused per­sons with first phase disclosures and sought time to furnish them with copies of their signed charge sheets.

Corporal Filipe strongly object­ed to bail on the ground that the charges against them were serious because they were armed with cane knives and stones and had attacked police officers.

He said public interest superseded the rights of the accused men thus they should be remanded in cus­tody.

In relation to Vakarisi’s situation, Corporal Filipe submitted that he had pending cases in court and prosecution needed more time to de­termine whether he had breached his bail conditions by reoffending.

Vakarisi’s lawyer Mr Reddy made oral bail submissions.

He said his client was innocent until proven guilty and the primary consideration for bail was the like­lihood of him appearing in court.

Mr Reddy stated that Vakarisi was a businessman and there were two sureties ready to commit to an un­dertaking to ensure the accused ap­pears in court on all his court dates.

He said the accused does not have a passport thus was not a flight risk and was willing to abide by all bail conditions imposed by the court in­cluding reporting to the Nabua Po­lice Station on any given day.

Magistrate Wickramasekara made an order for Bulanaivalu, Gudru and Serukalou to be escorted to the Colonial War Memorial Hospital for medical examination before be­ing taken to the Suva Remand Cen­tre.

He also ordered the accused men to lodge any complaints they have to the Officer In Charge at the Re­mand Centre and the Commission­er of the Fiji Corrections Service.

The case has been adjourned to August 20, 2018 for mention.