Vilimoni Lalaobouma, the man charged with the alleged murder of late police constable Siuta Niumataiwalu retook his initial non-guilty plea and has now pleaded guilty for all six charges against him.
He appeared before judge Justice Sunil Sharma at the High Court in Lautoka yesterday.
Mr Lalaobouma is charged with one count of murder of Siuta Niumataiwalu on October 22, 2019 in Lautoka, one count of robbery of Bal Krishna that included a bag, clothes, kitchen knife and $10 cash on October 21, 2019 in Lautoka.
He is also charged with one count of aggravated robbery for stealing one Samsung J5 Prime mobile phone which was the property of Simon Ritesh Kumar and had an offensive weapon with him during the time of robbery on October 21, 2019 in Lautoka.
Mr Lalaobouma is also charged with three counts of serious assault after he resisted the arrest by police constable Vatiliai Turuva, detective constable Paulo Cata and detective constable Timoci Vuli while executing their duties on October 21, 2019 in Lautoka.
Justice Sharma asked Mr Lalaobouma whether he pleaded guilty without any pressure or force of anyone and also whether he understood the nature of his charges and the consequences of pleading guilty to which he responded in affirmative.
Justice Sharma adjourned the matter to March 3, 2021 for the amended summary of facts to be read out after the State lawyer asked for the amendment to the summary of facts be made.
“I would ask both counsels to kindly read the summary of facts before it is filed in court,” said Justice Sharma.
Mr Lalaobouma is represented by Jowen Singh while the State is represented by Unal Dev Lal, Sheenal Swastika and Alvin Singh.
It is alleged that on October 22, 2019, Mr Lalaobouma stabbed police constable Siuta Niumataiwalu with a kitchen knife several times at the Churchill Park grounds.
