Oswell Tunupopo defended himself at the Criminal Court in Avarua yesterday, arguing that the charges against him should be withdrawn.

Tunupopo was charged with two counts of breach of probation. The court heard that he failed to report to Probation Services on July 26.

In his defence, Tunupopo told Justice of the Peace Georgina Williams that he did not know if Probation Services was aware of his appeal application, which was granted on June 21.

He said that according to the Criminal Procedure Act, a probation order is paused when an appeal for the matter is granted.

Tunupopo was sentenced to 18 months’ probation with the first three months to community service in March this year. He was convicted for an incident in Rarotonga on July 3, 2022, that involved an argument between him and a group of people.

A number of children were present, and the argument broke out about who would look after a couple of them.

A woman intervened and Tunupopo pushed her. She allegedly pushed him back, and he then punched her in the face. She then allegedly punched him in the private area and hit him on the head with a coffee filter.

Probation Services requested an adjournment to understand the matter.

JP Williams said there was a possibility that the breach of probation charges could be withdrawn. She adjourned the matter to August 17.