The High Court in Suva yesterday sentenced a carpenter to life imprisonment after convicting him of brutally killing his elderly father with a cane knife.
The court also directed that Armugam Goundar, 50, serve a minimum term of 17 years before a pardon could be considered.
During trial, the court heard that Goundar and his 76-year-old father were involved in an argument in the early hours of October 31 three years ago, in their home at Manoca in Nausori.
Goundar then woke up a friend who had spent the night at his house and told him he had chopped and killed his father. He also told him that he wanted to run away.
But while they were still talking, his father came out of the kitchen with a deep cut on his right hand and another on his forehead.
Goundar and his friend then rushed his father to hospital but the elderly man died on the way.
In her remarks, Justice Siainiu Fa’alogo-Bull said there was no evidence to suggest the incident was premeditated.
She added the injuries showed significant force and reflected the seriousness of Goundar’s crime and culpability.
