A 21-year-old man, who struck a cane knife on his colleague and caused his death, has been jailed by the High Court in Suva. Sailosi Naivalurua appeared before Justice Vinsent Perera at the High Court in Suva yesterday for his sentencing after he was found guilty.

Naivalurua was initially charged and tried for one count of murder, however, upon conclusion of the trial, the court found him guilty for the lesser offence of manslaughter.

Naivalurua had questioned the victim, 40-year-old Tevita Qalobula, about his mobile phone and suspected Mr Qalobula of stealing it.

The two got into a heated argument and Naivalurua struck Mr Qalobula with a cane knife several times before fleeing the scene on April 21, 2020. The argument also resulted in Naivalurua sustaining injuries.

Mr Qalobula succumbed to his injuries on April 23, 2020, at the Oceania Hospital in Suva.

The court heard that Naivalurua was given a scholarship by his employer as he scored high marks in his accounting subject.

Justice Perera said Naivalurua appeared to have been pushed by the circumstances when he committed the offence.

He said the conduct of Naivalurua had caused the loss of a 40-year-old father of four young children.

Justice Perera added that the aggravating factor was also that Naivalurua fled the scene without considering seeking medical needs for the deceased as he was injured and bleeding.

The court also heard that in trial, the pathologist had testified that the deceased may have also died due to loss of blood and surgery when the doctors tried to reattach the deceased’s wrist on his hand.

Naivalurua has been sentenced to three years imprisonment with a non-parole period of two years.

The court heard that Naivalurua was in remand custody for a little over two months which was considered as part of the sentence served.

Justice Perera also partially suspended Naivalurua’s sentence.

Naivalurua is ordered to serve two years of his sentence and the remaining one year is suspended for a period of three years.

In considering the time spent in remand, the remaining period left to serve is one year, nine months and four days.

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