Niue minister admits guilt on assault, discharged

A cabinet minister on Niue, Billy Talagi, has been discharged without conviction following a guilty plea to assaulting MP Terry Coe outside the debating chamber. Local commissioners of the High Court issued the judgement.

The assault took place after a parliamentary meeting during which Mr Coe strongly criticised Mr Talagi, who is the minister of broadcasting, on the operations of TV and radio services. Back in February when the incident occurred Mr Talagi told RNZ Pacific that it didn’t happen, that it was nothing more than rumour.