Republic v Tamuera [2013] KIHC 29; Criminal Case 49-11 (2 July 2013)

IN THE HIGH COURT OF KIRIBATI 2013

CRIMINAL CASE NO. 49 OF 2011

BETWEEN

[THE REPUBLIC
PROSECUTOR

AND

[ARATIKA TAMUERA
ACCUSED

Before: Hon Chief Justice Sir John Muria

2 July 2013

Ms Tewiia Tawita for Prosecution
Mr Raweita Beniata for Accused

SENTENCE

Muria CJ: Your case is very serious. You have been charged with Grievous Harm with Intent contrary to section 218(a) of the Penal Code. You stabbed a sleeping and defenseless person with a knife.

You deliberately went to have a drink the next day and returned to the victim's house to pay back for what the victim did to you the previous night. That is no provocation. In fact you returned to take revenge for what the victim did to you.

Mr Beniata, your Counsel, very correctly acknowledged the seriousness of your actions. The Court is very grateful for the forthright manner in which your Counsel put his submissions to the Court on your behalf.

Your guilty plea has greatly counted in your favour in this case. You also have no previous brush with the law. This is your first.

The Court also accepts the apologies made to the victim and that you mended your relationship with the victim.

You have taken upon yourself a rehabilitative act of attending the AA and Family Recovery Course. You completed it successfully with Certification and that certainly is a factor which the Court will bear in mind in sentencing you.

The seriousness of your case lies in the fact that you deliberately returned to the victim's house the next day after taking alcohol and stabbed the victim at the back with a 30cm long knife while he was lying down asleep. The blade of the knife almost completely plunged into the victim's left shoulder at the back. That was an act that almost resulted in fatality. You were lucky that it did not, otherwise you would be facing a more serious charge in this case.

In a case such as this involving the use of a weapon on a defenseless victim and on a guilty plea, the starting point in the Court's view, ought to be five (5) years imprisonment. The Court may then take into account other mitigating factors thereafter to determine whether it should reduce the sentence further, as well as whether it should be suspended or not.

In this case, in view of the strong mitigating factors helpfully put to the Court by Mr Beniata the Court is inclined to reduce the sentence further.

The cases referred to by Counsel are helpful but each case is to be determined on its own facts. In the present case, a custodial sentence is appropriate. The circumstances justify that the appropriate sentence is one of 12 months' imprisonment taking into account all the mitigating factors submitted on behalf of the accused.

ORDER: 12 months' imprisonment to be served.

Dated the 24th day of July 2013

SIR JOHN MURIA
Chief Justice