MAN ACCUSED FOR 2010 DROWNING INCIDENT ACQUITTED

The High Court has acquitted a man from Malaita Province accused of drowning a young man at Sun Valley on May 23rd 2010.

Justice Francis Mwanesalua acquitted him saying the prosecution’s key witness was unreliable in his evidence to the Court.

The key witness was a young teenage boy who during the trial testified he saw the accused Aron Konle jumped on the deceased and strike him unconscious with an object.

He testified, Mr. Konle with the help of his brother carried the deceased and threw him into the Lunga river while he was still unconscious.

But Justice Mwanesalua said the witness was unreliable because he failed to tell the Court how the accused’s brother came to be with the accused after he had struck the deceased.

He acquitted the accused of the charge.

Mr. Konle was alleged to be part of a group who chased after the deceased because he disturbed a fundraising program at the Tamone settlement in Sun Valley.

The Police were called, but the deceased ran away.

The body was found in the early morning in the Lunga river.