Regina v Maenu - Judgment 2 [2006] SBHC 31; HC-CRC 327 of 2004 (28 July 2006)

HIGH COURT OF SOLOMON ISLANDS

Criminal Case No. 327 of 2004

REGINA

v

JOHN ROBU MAENU, ALLEN MAKABO,
JAMES LOMO AND JIMMY KALUAE

HIGH COURT OF SOLOMON ISLANDS
(Commissioner R D Chetwynd)

Hearing at Honiara: 13th 14th 17th 19th 20th 21st 26th July 2006
Date of Judgment at Honiara: 28th July 2006

R Talasasa DPP for the Crown
A Mane Esq for John Robu Maenu and James Lomo
Ms E Garo for Allen Makabo and Jimmy Kaluae

JUDGMENT

Commissioner Chetwynd: John Robu Maenu’u, Alan Makabo, James Lomo and Jimmy Kaluae, this morning I convicted you of robbery. Now I’ve heard from your lawyers about you and your past life and I must decide what will happen to you, how I will sentence you.

An offence of robbery is as Ms Garo said, "a serious offence." I cannot do anything other than send you to prison for that offence. What I will do though is I will suspend much of the sentence. I’ll do this because I accept that, although I said in my judgment that you could not use it in law as a defence, you may have been a little frightened of or influenced by Devesi.

I will also take into account the delay from 2002 until today. As Ms Garo also says, had we had a normal situation in 2002 and you had been dealt with then you would probably have served any sentence imposed by the Court already.

I’ve also heard that you have previous good characters and I will take that into account. I intend to treat you all equally.

I’m not going to make any different orders to make it seem one or other of you is worse than the rest. I think this would be the fairest way to deal with all of you.

You committed this robbery at a time when much of the nation was suffering from acts such as this. I think many young men like you used the excuse of the ethnic tension to do stupid things like this. Things you would never do had the situation been normal.

As a result of your actions someone has lost a vehicle and that was a valuable thing to that person and it was a valuable thing to the driver, James Taemu - it was his work. If a value had been put on that vehicle in evidence, I may well have considered making a compensation order and splitting it four ways between you. But I needn’t do that today and in any event, and this is by way of a warning, the owner of the vehicle can sue you in the Civil Courts if they want. So you might not only pay in the Criminal Court, you may, and I don’t know if the owner will or not, you may also have to pay in the Civil Court.

What I’m going to sentence you to is two years imprisonment. I’m going to suspend twenty-one months of that sentence. That means you will serve three months imprisonment immediately. I imagine with time off for good behaviour it’s likely to be about eight weeks; but I don’t know for sure, that’s for the Prison Authorities to work out.

I have not take into account any time any of you have spent in custody already because you’ve spent different times in custody. The fairest way for me to deal with you is to ignore time spent in prison on remand. It may mean that some of you will therefore serve longer time in prison but this is the fairest way I can manage this.

Now, I’ve also got a problem with Mr Maenu’u. I’ve heard that his appeal is on the way and I do not want him to suffer as a result of my sentence today. I was thinking of making the sentence consecutive to his present one which would have meant that if he was released or acquitted this sentence would then take effect. That would mean he’d still have to serve three months before release and that doesn’t somehow seem fair. I’m not sure I can make this order but I’m going to make it and the Director will no doubt appeal if he thinks I am wrong. I’m going to order that the sentence of two years, 21 months of which is suspended, should start today for all of you. That means (for Mr Maenu) that if his appeal comes to Court after three months as I imagine it would, I think I recall information that the Court of Appeal will not be sitting until October, If he is acquitted then he will be entitled to be released from this sentence too.

The sentence I pass today, two years imprisonment or 24 months, 21 months of which is suspended for two years, means that period of suspension will be for two years. What that means, is that you are released from prison after serving the three months, but if you commit another offence inside two years, you go straight back to prison to serve the 21 months, plus any sentence imposed for any new offence. If you commit no other offences inside the two years that’s the end of the sentence.

R D Chetwynd
Commissioner