State v Turagakula [2009] FJHC 235; HAC057.2008 (23 October 2009)

IN THE HIGH COURT OF FIJI
AT LAUTOKA
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION

CRIMINAL CASE NO. HAC 057 OF 2008

STATE

V

ISEI TURAGAKULA (Acc 1)
MANASA VOLAU (Acc 2)

Mr. J. Daurewa with Ms M. Fong for the State
Both Accused in Person

Date of Hearing: 20 October 2009
Date of Sentence: 23 October 2009

SENTENCE

You have both been convicted of two separate counts of robbery with violence and one count of unlawful use of a motor vehicle. Isei Turagakula have been convicted of a further count of driving without a licence. The robbery offences are serious and worthy of harsh penalty.

You both embarked on a night of violent action on the 22nd May 2005. You first went to the private home of Surend Prasad at 1.30am, where you awoke the victim and threatened him with a wooden pole – jabbing him in the chest. You held him by the collar and forced him to crawl through the house before tying him up and his adult son with wire. You then took money, mobile phones and electronic equipment from the house. Using a car key you found, you took his car and drove it away without Surendra Prasad’s authority. Before leaving you threatened him with murder if he reported the crime and then you drove the car around and then went at 4.00am to the bakery shop of the second victim, Mr. Singh. Mr. Singh was punched in the mouth enough to make him bleed and from his shop you took bread, cigarettes, money and another mobile phone.

You were both subsequently arrested and made full confessions to the police, including a confession by you Turagakula that although you drove the car you were not licensed to do so.

This was a night of what was probably a joy ride for you but a night of terror for the two victims. It was also a night of joint enterprise and I make no distinction between you and your individual roles on the night. In recent years the Courts have consistently said that they will no longer tolerate such highly anti-social behaviour and sentences in the range of ten to fifteen years will now be the norm. Civilized society must be protected from gratuitous violence and theft.

In State v Rokonabete and Others – HAC 118 of 2007, Goundar J. in dealing with sentence for armed robbery learnedly referred to all recent authorities on the offence, and invoked the English line of cases which the Fiji Court of Appeal has said that these Courts should be following (Basa, AAUU 24 of 2005).

Mitigation

The first accused told me nothing. I extracted from him the facts that he is 25 years old, is married with 2 children and works as a farmer. The State tells me he has 12 previous convictions, with two similar.

The second accused is 22 years old and lives with his mother. He works at Fiji Sugar Corporation as a pointsman. He tells me that he tried to defend his case to the best of his ability and swore that he didn’t commit the offences.

The State reveals 3 previous convictions with two similar.

There is very little that can be said in mitigation for either of you, apart from the fact that no serious injuries were inflicted on either victim and that you cooperated with the police, although you have both subsequently resiled from that position.

The aggravating features are compelling:

- The offences were committed at night resulting in a heightened state of fear in the victims.

- The two of you acted in concert as one fearsome force.

- You used a wooden pole and tied up the first victim.

- You invaded private and commercial premises (a home and a shop).

The robbery offences are of course far more serious than the driving offences and I take as my base starting point for those offences a term of 10 years imprisonment. I deduct one year from that to reflect the meager mitigating factors, but thereafter add three years for the aggravating features. This results in a term of 12 years which you will serve for each of the robberies of which you have been convicted. The two robberies were committed in one night of violent revelry and those two sentences will therefore be served concurrently.

For the second count of unlawful use of a motor vehicle, I sentence you each to a term of 12 months imprisonment, also to be served concurrently to the robbery sentences. Turagakula, you are to be sentenced in addition to driving without a licence. In doing so you placed every other road user at risk, and although the roads are not busy in the dead of night, nighttime does produce its own unique hazards for the driver without having to deal with the dangers of an unlicensed driver. For this offence I sentence you to six months consecutive to your robbery sentences.

In summary therefore Turagakula, you will serve 12 years and 6 months and Volau 12 years term of imprisonment.

You have the right to appeal to the Fiji Court of Appeal and you must do that within 30 days from today.

Paul K. Madigan
Judge

At Lautoka
Friday 23 October 2009