A 26-year-old father was yesterday sentenced to 19-months imprisonment for assaulting three Australian tourists.

A 26-year-old father of three was yesterday sentenced to 19-months imprisonment for assaulting three Australian tourists at the Club Raro Resort on April 7 this year.

Turuariki Staycool Club Manuela was convicted on two counts of assaulting a female and one count of common assault. He was also convicted on burglary and aggravated burglary charges.

The ruling was labelled as “a disgrace” by a victim who said he had no feeling for the offender.

The court heard Manuela first entered a couple’s room when they were asleep and “his hand skimmed part of the female victim’s buttocks”.

Justice of the Peace Carmen Temata said when the female victim woke up and screamed, Manuela ran out of the door he had entered.

Temata said he was chased by the victim and her partner.

“The couple caught up with you at the gate that was locked and you turned around and punched the female on her neck, once, and punched her partner, you ran towards the room and was confronted by the victim’s sister, you ran straight at the second female victim and punched her on the chest where she fell to the ground.”

Temata said Manuela was then chased by a security officer but he managed to escape. However he was identified by the security officer and the matter was reported to police.

Speaking to Cook Islands News, the male victim said that the sentence given was a disgrace.

“I do know now how tight the island is and I understand the sentence but I will never understand the people there and the justice and I see it being a bad choice.”

He said the dreadful experience had caused a lot of damage to him and his wife.

He said he had lost his job due to the incident which had affected them psychologically.

“I hope he gets what he deserves as we are back home still traumatised by what he has done to us and we are still affected by his doing.”

He added that what they experienced was scary and they had no feelings for Manuela.

At the High Court yesterday, Manuela stood before JP Temata, Georgina Williams and Vania Kenning.

Defence counsel Mark Short submitted letters from Manuela’s employer, family in Aitutaki, a report from Punanga Tauturu Inc and a psychologist’s report from New Zealand.

Referring to Manuela’s psychological report, Short said Manuela, who hails from Aitutaki, is the youngest of six siblings who had a good but hard childhood.

He was surrounded with poverty and some incidents of domestic violence, Short said.

Manuela left school at the age of 17, met his partner and had a full time job.

The report further said that Manuela started consuming alcohol at the age of 16 and started using cannabis at the age of 18.

Short said Manuela had been consuming alcohol before he committed the offence. He said the alcohol caused “blackouts” adding his client only recalled certain moments of that night.

Short also said further psychological intervention was important and Manuela needed counselling for alcohol and substance abuse.

JP Temata said this was a serious offence, victims were here on holiday and this offending negatively affected the tourism industry.

She said the continuous abuse of alcohol and drugs he engaged in was by choice.

“Medical report showed all victims suffered from bruises, soft tissue injuries that was not serious physical and life threatening. One of the females suffered from acute stress, emotional and psychological, loss of sleep and shock.”

JP Temata said Manuela had not changed after serving prison on a similar offence in 2017.

“You told the officer you can’t recall the incident and was intoxicated but your actions speak otherwise.”

She said they understood that Manuela needed assistance for his mental well-being but a custodial sentence was unavoidable.

Upon his release, the court ordered that he is to be supervised by Probation Service and the Ministry of Health to address his behavioural issues as he serves his time.