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Former Wallaby Adam Coleman named in Tonga’s match-day 23 against Scotland

23/09/2023

By Iliesa Tora of  rnz.co.nz and is republished with permission

Former Wallaby Adam Coleman will debut off the bench for the ‘Ikale Tahi when they battle Scotland in Nice on Monday morning (New Zealand time).

Coleman became eligible for Tonga with World Rugby approving its eligibility rule allowing players to play for their home nations after three years of stand-down from their last international game with their adopted home teams.

Coleman and fly-half Patrick Pellegrini are the only changes to the bench as head coach Toutai Kefu has gone with retaining the team that was thrashed by Ireland in Nantes last weekend.

“They are our best players and I think after last week’s performance, it probably wasn’t our best version of us. They deserved another chance,” he told the media in Nice on Friday evening.

“The only difference is Adam Coleman comes onto the bench and he might be able to give us a bit of an impact off the bench.

“Depending on how it goes he will be pushing for a starting place in the next couple of weeks. It’s been a while since he played and he’s still getting over a calf injury.

“That’s what he’s had for the last month. Before that it was a shoulder and an Achilles at the same time. He’s been through the wars a bit so we are just taking it daily with him.”

Kefu said they must win against Scotland to have any hopes of getting a quarterfinal spot, a tough ask for the side, following their big loss to the Irish last weekend.

“It is. We are desperate to win. Last week wasn’t us so we want to fix that.”

He said they had focused on Ireland last week and worked on improving areas they identified as weak links from last week.

“The dream is to win three games in a row. That would be a dream. We can’t look too far ahead of ourselves. We are fully focused on performance. Our preparation has been okay this week,” he said.

“The boys are probably a little bit hungover from last week’s performance. They were devastated. We didn’t fire any shots at all. To Ireland’s credit, they kept us under sustained pressure.

“We definitely want to put the best version of ourselves this week.”

Tonga last played Scotland in 2021 and suffered a 60-14 defeat at Murrayfield.

Kefu said this was a totally different team with a lot of experience.

“I wasn’t on that tour, I think that was the Covid tour. This is a totally different squad. I think there’s only one of two players left over from that squad,” he said.

“They did beat us quite convincingly so I’d like to think we will be a lot more competitive, a lot more organised.

“Last week was a massive disappointment. We will put our best foot forward this weekend and show what we’ve been building over the past couple of months.”

Prop Ben Tameifuna will lead the team again.

He said they have prepared to give it their all against Scotland.

“We looked at the whole footage. We put ourselves in tough positions but we got the tools and we fixed that straight away in our first team training back.

“We are still looking to take it week by week and it starts this weekend with Scotland.”

On what he thinks of Scotland: “I played with [fly-half] Finn Russell at Racing. I know his tricks and his little inside balls and dummies and stuff. It will be good to see Finn again on the field. We’re excited and looking forward to this weekend. We’ve just been focusing on ourselves and putting our best foot forward after last week.”

Augustine Pulu, one of the former All Blacks in the side, said they know the importance of winning against Scotland.

“It’s knock-out footie this week. We understand what’s in front of us and put our best foot forward this week,” he said.

“We understand they are quality players but we can only focus on ourselves. Last week we didn’t fire our shots so this week we are going to redeem ourselves by going out there and doing our best.”

Tonga’s match-day 23 against Scotland:

1 Siegfried Fisi’ihoi, 2. 2 Paula Ngauamo, 3. Ben Tameifuna (c), 4 Halaleva Fifita, 5 Sam Lousi, 6 Tanginoa Halaifonua, 7 Sione Talitui, 8 Vaea Fifita, 9 Augustine Pulu, 10 William Havili, 11 Afusipa Taumoepeau, 12 Pita Ahki,13 Malakai Fekitoa, 14 Solomone Kata, 15 Salesi Piutau; Replacements: 16 Sam Moli, 17 Tau Koloamatangi, 18 Sosefo Apikotoa, 19 Adam Coleman, 20 Semisi Paea, 21 Sione Vailanu, 22 Sonatane Takulua, 23 Patrick Pellegrini

Father and sons convicted in machete attack case; judge cites police failure to lay ‘attempted murder’ charges

Kaniva Staff

23/09/2023

A father and his two sons were convicted of common assault after a 24-year-old man was assaulted and struck with a machete.

The father was also found guilty of causing grievous bodily harm while his sons were acquitted of that same charge.

And in handing down his decision, Justice Cooper made searing comment about the situation.

“Firstly, from the foregoing it will be entirely obvious to anyone that all defendants should have been charged with attempted murder”, Mr Cooper said.

“No explanation has been offered as to why this was not so.

“Secondly, the medical evidence plainly needed expanding upon, rather than simply a one-page note and a photo. Ultimately it did not stop and clear finding by the Court, but it was crying out for expert evidence as to how this was caused, from what height and angle; when spelt out may have concentrated the defendant’s minds on arraignment.

Both these points should have been picked up in any proper case review”.

Kali Malupo, 57, was guilty of count of grievous bodily harm after he struck Filihia Lī on his head using a machete at Tonga’s Manuka village.

His two sons, Sione and Siaosi Malupō were convicted of common assault for punching Lī.

The court was told the incident occurred outside Lii’s father’s house on October 31, 2022, in Manuka.

Li was drunk before he had a confrontation with Kali.

At one stage Li was standing in the road while Kali was in his vehicle.

Kali had moved his vehicle towards Li before Li had punched and smashed a front head light.

Kali then produced a machete and struck Li with it causing the injury. Li was unarmed and there was no suggestion he ever had a weapon or any person thought he may have had one.

At another stage, according to court document, Kali approached Li before he ordered Sione and Siaosi to step aside so he could strike him.

As they stepped aside they also shouted words of encouragement to their father to attack Li.

“Beat him until he shits himself’.

Li was injured by the third strike of the machete despite his father tackling Kali. Sione and Siaosi then continued to punch Li, as he kept retreating all the way back to his fale even as he was trying to get in the door to be cared for.

“I am also quite sure they continued to attack Filihai Li after he was grievously injured. This is strong evidence of their state of mind from the start; that they were determined upon violently dealing with Filihai Li for violence’s sake and did so”, Mr Cooper said.

The defence argued that Siaosi was not at the scene at this time and arrived only as Li was being led into his father’s fale to be cared for.

It said Siaosi never had any physical interaction with Li nor threatened him.

Upper Hutt homicide: Woman arrested, charged with murder

Kaniva Staff

23/09/2023

By RNZ.co.nz and is republished with permission

A woman has been arrested and charged with murder after a man’s death in Upper Hutt on Friday.

Armed police at the scene of a reported Homicide in Akatarawa Road in Upper Hutt. Photo: RNZ / Bill Hickman

A homicide investigation was launched after a person died of their injuries when they were found on Akatarawa Road on Friday afternoon.

The 39-year-old woman who was arrested is due to appear in Hutt Valley District Court on Saturday.

Police said nobody else was being sought in relation to the incident.

Heavy rain watches in place for North Island as front moves from South Island

Kaniva Staff

23/09/2023

By rnz.co.nz and is republished with permission

Heavy rain warnings are in place for parts of the North Island as an active front moves up north after battering the South Island earlier this week.

Surface flooding in Gore following heavy rain that is moving up the country. Photo: RNZ / Tess Brunton

The school holidays have started and with travel picking up, motorists are being warned to be wary of the road conditions.

MetService said the front which hammered the South Island this week was slowly moving onto the North Island and would continue moving slowly eastwards across the island during the weekend.

Heavy rain warnings are in place for Bay of Plenty east of Opotiki and Waitomo and the Central North Island High Country south and west of Lake Taupō until Sunday.

A heavy rain watch is in place until Sunday for Northland, Waitomo, Taumarunui, Taihape, Whanganui, and Taupo west and south of the Lake, and Taranaki.

MetService meteorologist Alec Holden said heavy rain was lashing Nelson and Marlborough on Saturday morning, but that would ease by the afternoon.

“By this evening, it should be lined up stretching from the top of Northland down through inland Taranaki and then into the lower North Island.”

Authorities in Southland remained on watch overnight as the Mataura River peaked at various points after a 24-hour deluge, which began on Thursday and led to states of emergency in Southland and Queenstown.

However, Emergency Management Southland (EMS) said those peaks were expected to be lower than the 2020 floods and staying within the capacity of the river system.

EMS Group Controller Simon Mapp said some people were evacuated as rivers overflowed onto their land.

But he said the worst was over and MetService’s forecast showed the weather in the region would improve on Saturday.

Mapp urged people not to enter or drive through flood waters, which might be contaminated.

Gore District Council stood down its emergency response on Friday night, but Southland’s state of emergency remains in place.

A Civil Defence Southland spokesperson said a number of streets and roads around the Gore District remain affected by flooding, but State Highway 1 between Gore and Mataura reopened on Saturday morning.

The Queenstown Lakes District Council said its next steps in the flood clean-up included clearing debris on Brecon Street, where about 70 people were still out of their homes.

Thick snow has settled on farms in Central Otago after Friday’s heavy snowfall.

But in Alexandra, the annual Blossom Festival parade and market was set to go ahead.

Community emergency hubs at Gore and Mataura have been closed.

As for Sunday, MetService said rain was again expected for most of the North Island, while scattered showers were expected in the north and east of the South Island.

Tongatapu man acquitted after girl left blind in one eye after a stone was thrown at her

Kaniva Staff

22/09/2023

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A man has been found not guilty of inflicting grievous bodily harm after a young woman from Ha’ateiho lost the sight in one eye after she claims the man threw a stone at her.

Tevita Lisiate of Ha’ateiho was acquitted after he was charged with wilfully and without lawful justification, causing grievous bodily harm to Lupe Vaimoana Tafuna, when he threw a stone that hit her face, causing permanent blindness in her right eye.

The court was told that on October 7, 2022 Tafuna was leaving a dance of the LDS chapel in Pea. She was with her brother, Folau, and friends, and they were walking towards the vehicle they were to return home in.

There was a group of boys walking on the other side of the road. One young man from that group came and confronted Finau. There was an altercation. Lupe got involved to the extent of telling this boy to stop fighting.

The boy who had approached Folau turned to go and walked back to the other side of the road. Around about this time, there was more shouting from that other group, challenging Lupe’s friends to a fight.

Lupe and those she was with were nearing the car when she turned, and that is when, as she said in her evidence a rock landed on her face. She didn’t see who had thrown it.

The medical evidence was not disputed. She had, essentially, been blinded in her right eye. She could no longer, for example, read any text message on her mobile phone using that eye. She only had an awareness of brightness in her peripheral vison to that eye.

Folau, her brother gave evidence. His account was much as his sister’s, save to say that he named somebody called “Tevita”, who had approached him and challenged him to a fight.

His account was that it was this same boy, Tevita, who threw the stone that hit his sister, causing the devastating injury.

Foster Latu another member of Lupe Tafuna’s group gave evidence.

His account was that amongst the other group of young men on the other side of the road one had passed a stone to a boy called ‘Ti” and “Ti” had thrown it.

He said this; after the rock was thrown, he saw Lupe Tafuna fall to the ground. He rushed over to her along with his sister from there he saw ‘Tevita Lisiate” and the other boys running away.

Tevita Lisiate had not answered police’s questions and not given an interview.

He did not give evidence at trial.

The court judgement said:

“There was no identification procedure and there was no forensic evidence to link him to the rock.

“No evidence was adduced as to the circumstances in which Tevita Lisiate was arrested.

“How the investigation led to his being identified was highly relevant.

“If anything significant had been said on being cautioned and on arrest, that was never adduced. Quite simply put, that part of the continuity of the evidence was non-existent.

In his decision, Justice Cooper reminded that:

“In every case before this Court there must be evidence of the arrest, the caution and the reply to caution.

“Where identification may be in issue, there must always be an identification procedure carried out.

“If these observations on basic trial preparation are ignored, then victims of crime wi II continue to be denied a voice in the Criminal Justice System. 32. In this case young Miss Lupe Tafuna, tragically suffered lite changing injuries”.

“Tevita Lisiate was acquitted on the single count he faced.”, he said.

Tonga-born Australian soldier hoping to represent Kingdom in judo at 2024 Paris Olympics

Kaniva Staff

22/09/2023

When the phone rings and a chance to be in the Olympics is on the other end – you don’t hang up.

Identified to represent his country of birth, Private Fe’ao Faka’osi said he was overwhelmed and called the Tonga Judo Association to make sure he wasn’t dreaming.

Now, the preparation begins to take his signature move of the ‘drop seoi nage’ from his Sydney dojo to the Olympic stage in Paris, 2024.

“I had to ring the guys from Tonga and they told me that I had qualified if I was willing to take the opportunity,” Private Faka’osi said.

“In 2012, I qualified but I dislocated my shoulder so I missed out. It means everything to me, I didn’t know this second chance would come around.”

Enlisting in 2020, the Tongan-born soldier had already been competing in judo for 25 years and recently became recognised by Army as an elite sports participant.

Private Faka’osi has lived in Australia since 2010, however being the only world ranked Tongan judo competitor he qualifies to represent the country.

“As much as I want to represent Australia, I don’t have a chance of doing that as they already have their players set,” Private Faka’osi said.

Each morning the judoka completes a custom, online training program.

Five days a week, he will battle Sydney traffic from Holsworthy to Silverwater for back-to-back 2-hour training sessions of an evening and still find time to sleep when he gets home.

Private Fe’ao Faka’osi is aiming for Paris Olympics 2024. Photo: ADF

‘Quietly confident’ – coach

Judo has taken him nationally and overseas to compete and train.

Private Faka’osi attended a training camp in Zagreb, Croatia last month.

He will be competing in Brisbane later this month with the ADF Judo Team, and then heads to Tahiti in October for another competition to represent Tonga.

Private Faka’osi said he has to keep his head in the game and will give it a “red-hot crack” in the City of Light.

Private Faka’osi’s coach, Major Derek Morris, has formed a strong relationship with the Judo coaching staff of the Combat Institute of Australia, after being invited to train at the National Performance Centre.

“Since commencing training with the Australian team, the coaching staff have been more accommodating than I could have imagined,” Major Morris said.

“It’s allowed Fe’ao to develop beyond state and national level competition and really get immersed in the culture and mindset of high-level international judo.”

Major Morris said this journey is not just about striving for a gold medal at the Olympics, but about making Tonga a credible contender in international judo in the years to come.

“At 40 years old, Fe’ao will probably be the second or third oldest guy on the mat at the Olympics next year,” Major Morris said.

“I’m quietly confident that if we get a favourable draw, he should still be able to walk away with a win or two.”

Private Faka’osi’s son is also competing well on the national circuit and Major Morris said, looking into the future, he could be an upcoming Olympian himself.

“I’m also developing [Private Faka’osi] to be a coach. His young fellow will be 24-years-old by Brisbane Olympics in 2032 and I believe that he has a real chance at winning a medal,” Major Morris said.

“This journey is not just about next year, there’s a longer-term strategy at play here. We’re looking at creating longevity for Tongan judo at the Olympics.”

Major Morris said his students’ unit has been supportive and he’s grateful for the opportunities they’ve allowed Pte Faka’osi to pursue.

The Paris selections will be confirmed on June 24, 2024.

– ADF

Reported drowning at Piha beach

Kaniva Staff

22/09/2023

By rnz.co.nz and is republished with permission

A person has drowned at Piha beach in West Auckland this morning.

St John said it was alerted to the situation just before noon.

Emergency crews attempted to resuscitate the person, however they were unable to be revived.

A helicopter, ambulance, and two response vehicles are at the scene.

No further details were yet available.

Customs officer arrested as dozen of illegal guns, thousands of ammunitions intercepted at Tonga border

Kaniva Staff

21/09/2023

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Illegal guns and ammunitions. Photo/Supplied

A 56-year-old Customs officer has been arrested after authorities found illegally imported firearms, firearm accessories and ammunition concealed in a personal consignment shipped to him from the United States of America.

The officer from Ma’ufanga was arrested by Police on September 11, 2023 after Customs intercepted a consignment.

The items intercepted included, nine (9) 22 caliber-rifles, three(3) rifle scopes, nine (9) magazines, two (2) pump action shotguns, one(l) Taurus pistol and approximately 4159 pieces of ammunition.

The shipment was targeted and put through the Customs x-ray pallet scanner which indicated the presence of the concealed goods that were not declared.

Further physical examination by Customs with the assistance of Police revealed the presence of the firearms, firearm parts and accessories as well as ammunition.

The goods were subsequently detained, and the importer was taken in for questioning by Police and later arrested.

Police investigations into this case are ongoing.

Woman charged with running $13M Ponzi scheme in US, defrauding Tongan community

Kaniva Staff

20/09/2023

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Tilila Siola’ā Walker Sumchai. Photo/Screenshot

A Tongan woman who was at the centre of a global Ponzi Scheme which
allegedly defrauded millions out of Tongans in New Zealand, Australia and the United
States has been charged in California.

Sixty One year-old Tilila Siola’a Walker Sumchai claimed she used a ‘secret
algorithm’ to lure investors for defrauding, the Attorney General Office in California said.

As we reported previously, Tongans in New Zealand had been left without cash for food as the country was plunged into Covid lockdown in 2021. These people were the victims of pyramid scheme, Tongi Tupe Nu’usila, which was operated by Shumchai and her associates in New Zealand.

According to court documents, between January 2021 and October 2021, Walker Sumchai orchestrated a scheme to defraud investors in the United States, Australia, and New Zealand from her Stockton office, the AG Office said.

“Walker Sumchai solicited Tongan investors and promised them that if they gave her money to purchase shares of the “Tongi Tupe” investment program, she would invest the money, and they would receive their principal investments back and thousands of dollars in returns within weeks or months.

“She also promised investors that if they gave her $30,000, within months they would receive a home in Lodi worth approximately $480,000. Instead, she took investors’ money and used it for her own personal expenses, including gambling, and used it to pay back and lull earlier investors. More than 1,000 investors invested over $13 million with Walker Sumchai”.

The US’s Richmond resident is facing more than 30 counts after law enforcement
officials say she ran a $13 million Ponzi scheme out of her Stockton office.

She is facing charges of wire fraud, securities fraud and the sale of unregistered
securities.

She faces a maximum of 20 years in prison and a $5 million fine.

If you believe you are a victim of the Tongi Tupe investment program, click here.

Seven arrested as police investigate death of teenage boy at Kolofo‘ou

Kaniva Staff

19/09/2023

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Seven people have now been arrested as Tonga Police are investigation into the death of a teenager over the weekend.

As Kaniva News reported on Sunday Toni Jr Langilangi died in Hospital after what his family had alleged as a result of “youth violence”.

Police responded to a report of a youth fight at Mangaia, Kolofo’ou that resulted in the death of a 16-year-old BOY from Pahu on Saturday 16, a Police statement said this evening.

“Police arrested two male youths from the scene while receiving report from the Vaiola Hospital confirming that a 16-year-old male suffered severe head and body injuries from the incident and was pronounced dead upon arrival”, is said.

“Police immediately secured the crime scene and launched a homicide investigation.

“To date, seven male suspects aged 17 – 19 years of Ha’ateiho and Fo’ui have been arrested after multiple witnesses have come forward with reports and videos from the incident.

“All suspects remain in police custody while investigation continues to determine the full circumstances of the teen’s death.

Post-mortem for the deceased is expected to be carried out later this week”.

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