16 Jan 2012

Reward offered in Niue arson case

12:08 pm on 16 January 2012

Niue police are offering a reward of almost eight-thousand US dollars in the case of an arson attack in Hikutavake last month.

The village has experienced four arson attacks since the first last May, with the other three occurring on December the 5th.

A man has been charged over two of the December fires but a third that destroyed the home of Ian and Emi Hipa remains unsolved.

The chief of police, Mark Chenery, says the reward will be paid for information or evidence leading to a conviction.

"It is a tragic - especially so close to Christmas - a tragic event for the wider Hipa family to have to go through. So I mean Niue Police and me in particular are committed to trying to find those persons responsible for that."

Mark Chenery says immunity to prosecution will be considered for a secondary party in relation to the arson.