Justice of the Peace John Whitta presided over several cases on Tuesday at the Criminal Court in Avarua with two sentencings being adjourned due to various reasons.

One of the cases involved Oswell Tunupopo, who is charged with two counts of common assault for assaulting a worker at a tour operating company.

His case was adjourned to May 29 for call-over with bail conditions to continue.

Tunupopo asked the court for an adjournment as he could not get a hold of his defence counsel.

Whitta reserved a trial date on July 14, which is over a month after his call-over.

Tunupopo allegedly committed the assault in December 2023 and was charged by police in January 2024

He was told not to offer violence, not leave the Cook Islands without permission and not to interfere with the alleged victim.

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Nikau Jackson Wellington Teao, charged with excess blood alcohol, appeared in court yesterday.

His lawyer, Mark Short, is overseas for family commitments, so the matter was adjourned for sentencing on July 16 at 9:30am.

A probation report was ordered and the existing bail conditions are to continue.

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Katrina Renee Charlotte, charged with excess blood alcohol, also sought an adjournment as she will be returning to New Zealand this week.

She is a Cook Islander studying in New Zealand, the court heard.

The defence application to adjourn was not opposed, nor was the application to allow the defendant to travel back to New Zealand.

The defense counsel advised of concerns regarding the circumstances of the defendant’s detention following the arrest and, on those grounds, sought an adjournment to appear before the Chief Justice for a call-over. This was also not opposed.

This matter was therefore adjourned to May 30, 2025, and the defendant was remanded at large.