A Chimbu businessman based in Woitape, in the Goilala area of Central Province, was cleared by the Waigani District Court yesterday after it found insufficient evidence he stole gold dust from a gold buyer.
The Grade 5 Court cleared John Thomas of Gumini, Chimbu Province, after it found that police did not prove its case beyond reasonable doubt on allegations he stole a kilogram of gold valued at K150, 000 between May and June 2006 at Woitape in 2006.
He was arrested in April 2015 and has been flying into Port Moresby from Woitape to attend his case.
The ruling came on Monday after a trial was conducted at Waigani. A total of eight witnesses gave evidence in the case.
Magistrate Cosmas Bidar in giving his ruling said the alleged incident happened 10 years ago and factors like confusion of facts and fading memory were taken into consideration.
“Who will the court believe? It’s a case of the complainant’s word against the defendant and under the law, police have the duty to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt of guilt, that’s the basic standard proof.
“Here evidence is insufficient to prove guilt of stealing and prosecution failed to prove the case beyond reasonable doubt,” he said.
It was alleged Thomas was given some gold weighing up to one kilogram in 2006, after the complainant, Andrew Geno, went to Woitape and was accommodated by Thomas. This allegedly took place after Geno, who went panning for gold with his men, ran out of food rations and went to Woitape to buy new supplies.
Speaking to the media outside court yesterday, Thomas said he was wrongly accused by Geno and knew he had to prove his innocence in court.
“I have been flying in and out of Woitape and it has been a very expensive exercise. I spent K7,300 (K370 one way) since the case started last year to attend court. I will sue the complainant for my loss of business,” he said.
(Caption: Thomas outside court today.)