Eight men accused of burgling more than $1.7 million, and gold at Charivunga Village in Central Guadalcanal have yet to take their pleas.
The prosecution told the Honiara Magistrate Court on Monday that it has not yet received the file docket from police investigators and therefore was unable to provide disclosures to defence lawyers.
The accused Pius Mamani, Stanley Hou, Jerom Paoha, Mariano Walex, Godfrey Ini, Celestino Aitete, Willie Pale and Carlos Elei, are all aged between 20 and 35 and each face one count of Burglary.
Public Prosecutor Jeremy Oiofa informed court that the accused were ready to take their pleas, but could not do so because their counsels were yet to receive the file docket from police.
All eight accused now have legal counsel, but are yet to be served with disclosures.
Principal Magistrate Elma Veenah Rizzu Hilly raised concern over the delay, saying this was the third court mention and that all the accused have been remanded in custody.
She reminded the prosecution of its duty to follow up with police to ensure that the case files are forwarded in a timely manner before court appearances.
The matter was adjourned to January 19 for plea.
The magistrate directed police to forward the file docket to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) by close of business on January 7.
She further directed the ODPP to prepare and serve disclosures to defence counsel by close of business on January 9.
The magistrate warned that if there is no progress on the next court appearance, she would summon the case officer to court to explain the delay.
The eight men were charged following allegations that they burgled more than $1.7 million in cash and 11 grammes of gold from a landowner and gold buyer at Charivunga Village in the Gold Ridge area.
The alleged offence occurred on 26 November 2025.
Police arrested the 8 accused over the same weekend with over 800, 000 recovered so far.
By ASSUMPTA BUCHANAN
Solomon Star, Honiara
