State v Baleloa [2005] FJHC 14; HAM0041J.2003S (27 January 2005)

IN THE HIGH COURT OF FIJI
AT SUVA
MISCELLANEOUS JURISDICTION

CR. MISC. CASE NO: HAM0041 OF 2003S

STATE

v.

JOSEFA BALELOA

Counsel: Mr. D. Toganivalu for State
Mr. A. Seru for Accused

Sentence: 27th January 2005

SENTENCE

You are committed to the High Court for sentence on 21 counts of robbery with violence, 4 counts of unlawful use of motor vehicle, 1 count of abduction, 2 counts of house-breaking entering and larceny, 1 count of larceny and 1 count of burglary. All offences were committed by you during a period of 1 year and 2 months. When the facts were read to the learned Magistrate on the 15th of September 2003, his jurisdiction was limited to 5 years imprisonment on one count, and 10 years on two. He referred your sentencing to the High Court. When the matter was fixed for sentencing hearing on the 23rd of January 2004, I was informed that you had escaped from prison custody. You remained at large until the 17th of January 2005 when you appeared before this court.

I have considered the facts submitted by the prosecution. The offences of robbery with violence are similar. They involve you and 2 or 3 others arriving at a venue in a stolen car, using axes or cane knives to enter the premises, threatening employees by shouting and smashing glass and stealing from the till. In Case 2505/2002 you and three others robbed the Money World Fiji Ltd. in Ellery Street of about US$38,000 and handcuffed the Manager of the company. In Case No. 54/2003, you with others robbed a taxi driver and tied him up in the forest near Crest Chicken.

The facts tell a frightening story of uncontrolled violence and of a complete disregard for property and people. In mitigation, your counsel said that you had been in trouble with the police since the age of 13, when you were a student at Ratu Kadavulevu School. I accept that you have had a difficult relationship with the police, and with authority, but it appears that you have had supportive parents who have done their best to ensure that you continued to get an education. Despite this, you have offended since the age of 19 and now have 76 previous convictions including the convictions in this case.

In sentencing you, I feel a sense of hopelessness. You are still a young man, but it appears have never tried to rehabilitate yourself or to extricate yourself from this inexorable and continuing cycle of crime. Clearly the predominant consideration in sentencing you, must be the protection of the public. The public must be protected form habitual violent offenders who show no respect for other people’s lives and property.

The tariff for robbery with violence where weapons are used is 5 to 10 years. As a result of a number of guideline judgments in the High Court and Court of Appeal, the tariff has increased from 4 to 7 years, and the higher end of the tariff is reserved for serious armed robberies and home invasions.

On each of the robbery with violence counts, I choose as my starting point, 8 years imprisonment. After adjusting for your mitigating circumstances, your time in remand, and the aggravating factors of the use of knives and axes, including the tying of the victims, and the large sums of money taken, I consider that a sentence of 10 years imprisonment on each count of robbery with violence to be appropriate.

The 4 counts of unlawful use of motor vehicle are similar, and each case the vehicles were taken for use in the robberies. I sentence you to 6 months imprisonment on each count.

The charge of abduction on Case No. 54/2003 involved the tying of a taxi driver to a tree at Colo-i-Suva. The maximum sentence is 10 years imprisonment. I choose as my starting point 5 years imprisonment. After considering mitigating and aggravating factors, including the fear and trauma undoubtedly suffered by the driver, I sentence you to 4 years imprisonment.

The tariff for housebreaking is 2-3 years. Given the value of the goods taken on each count especially in Case No. 1210/2003, I consider a 3 year term to be appropriate on each count.

In respect of the larceny count in Case No. 1212/2003, the larceny was really part and parcel of the robbery of a taxi driver and of Bondwell Computers. A sentence of 12 months imprisonment is appropriate.

Lastly, on the one count of burglary in Case No. 1503/2003 you broke into a house to rob the occupant of her money and personal belongings. You tied up the occupant and stole $6500 worth of items. A sentence of 4 years imprisonment is appropriate.

In summary, the sentences are:

21 counts of robbery with violence - 10 years imprisonment on each count;

4 counts of unlawful use - 6 months imprisonment on each count;

1 count of abduction - 4 years imprisonment;

2 counts of housebreaking - 3 years imprisonment on each count;

1 count of larceny - 12 months imprisonment;

1 count of burglary - 4 years imprisonment.

The total sentence would far exceed your lifetime. You are currently serving a 4 year term of imprisonment which you have only just commenced serving. If I order all your sentences to be served concurrently with each other, but consecutive to the term you are serving now, you will be serving an effective term of 14 years imprisonment.

In the light of the need to protect the public, and to pass a sentence which reflects the seriousness of your offending, I consider that total term to be appropriate. All sentences are therefore to be served concurrently but consecutive to the 4 year term you now serve.

Nazhat Shameem
JUDGE

At Suva
27th January 2005