R v Piukana [2023] SBHC 146; HCSI-CRC 143 of 2019 (8 December 2023)

HIGH COURT OF SOLOMON ISLANDS

Case name:	R v Piukana
Citation:
Date of decision:	8 December 2023
Parties:	Rex v Jackson Rayvovo Piukana
Date of hearing:	22 November 2023
Court file number(s):	143 of 2019
Jurisdiction:	Criminal
Place of delivery:
Judge(s):	Keniapisia; PJ
On appeal from:
Order:	Accordingly, I will sentence Mr Vovo to 10 years imprisonment, which will commence on 10/11/2023. Defendant will be entitled to a further reduction in respect of any pre-trial custody time that the Correctional Authority may determine.
Representation:	Mrs Manu for the Crown Mr Pitakaka for the Defendant
Catchwords:
Words and phrases:
Legislation cited:	Penal Code (Amendment) (Sexual Offences) Act 2016 [cap 26] S 136 F (1) (a) (b)
Cases cited:	Bade v R [2023] SBCA 39, R v Bonuga [2014] SBCA 22,

IN THE HIGH COURT OF SOLOMON ISLANDS
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION

Criminal Case No. 143 of 2019

REX

V

JACKSON RAYVOVO PIUKANA

Date of Hearing: 22 November 2023
Date of Sentence: 8 December 2023

Mrs Manu for the Crown
Mr Pitakaka for the Defendant

SENTENCE FOR RAPE CONVICTION

1. Mr Vovo, I convicted you for rape in a verdict, I delivered on 10/11/2023. Now I have to determine the appropriate sentence or punishment. The offence you committed is serious. It carries a maximum statutory punishment of life imprisonment (Section 136 F) (1) (a) (b) of the Penal Code Act (Cap 26) as amended by the Penal Code (Amendment) (Sexual Offences) Act 2016 (No.3 of 2016). However, I have power to impose a lesser term of imprisonment.

Starting point sentence

2. The starting point sentence to reflect the gravity of your offending is 8 years for contested rape trial such as yours. For uncontested rape trial (guilty plea) it should start at 6 years. Counsel agreed that the starting point sentence should be 8 years - a new sentencing tariff the recent Court Appeal set in Rex v Bade^[1]. Court of Appeal precedent is binding on me.

Aggravating factors

3. Then I must lift the starting point sentence upwards to reflect the presence of 3 serious aggravating factors in your case. I will briefly discuss the aggravating factors to justify the uplift of the starting point sentence: -
   • (i) Psychological harm - I must always take judicial notice^[2] of long term impacts of all rape cases (sexual offending cases). The victim and her family have undergone some kind of filthy feelings, low esteem and internal scar of shame that will have long lasting effects on them.
   • (ii) Force involved - In the verdict I noted that the victim and her sister refused your initial sexual approaches. The 2 sisters gave excuses even swearing to God that their uncle John was inside the house next to them and also by saying that you were a married man. They were actually begging you saying – “please don’t come”. Yet you were not deterred. You went, grabbed Christina’s hands and led her to an isolated/hidden place, where you raped her (see paragraphs 11, 12 and 25 of the verdict). Force is not restricted to physical force like use of weapon and sustaining of injuries only, as your counsel submitted. Intruding into the sexual sanctuary of the victim against her will is in itself a form of unseen psychological force that the victim has sexually suffered. If only you did not force your sexual lust on her, she wouldn’t have to suffer the unseen sexual psychological force/harm.
   • (iii) Age disparity - Mr Vovo was older than Christina at the time of offending. Crown says Mr Vovo was 20 years old and that Christina was 15 years old. Defence counsel disputed this saying there is no evidence. Crown rely on Christina’s statement to police. I will settle that there is an age gap between Mr Vovo and Christina, however small that age gap may be. For an older person, there is an expectation of being responsible and accountable in protecting young girls from sexual offending (Rex v Ramaia^[3]).
4. For the above serious aggregating factors combined, I will make an uplift of the starting point sentence to 14 years noting the maximum sentence is life imprisonment. This means 2 years for each aggregating factor uplifted.

Mitigating factors

5. There are however mitigating factors that will reduce the sentence in your favour.
6. Defence counsel submitted that there are 10 mitigating factors - first time offender with no previous conviction; no use of weapon; no injuries; no physical threat; no psychological trauma; defendant cooperated with police investigations; long delay in prosecuting the case; personal/family circumstances of the defendant; no risk of repetition and pre-trial custody time.
7. The only mitigating factors I will accept are – first time offender with no previous conviction, long delay, family/personal circumstance of the defendant and pre-trial custody time. I am not convinced with the others because they are quite new to me and no persuasive authority is supplied. For the first factor I will deduct 1 year as usual. For second factor I will deduct 2 years because it is a breach of the defendant’s constitutional right. For personal circumstances, I will deduct 1 year, notwithstanding these are matters I should pay less attention to. Defendant is entitled to a total of 4 years reduction.
8. Accordingly, I will sentence Mr Vovo to 10 years imprisonment, which will commence on 10/11/2023. Defendant will be entitled to a further reduction in respect of any pre-trial custody time that the Correctional Authority may determine.

THE COURT
JUSTICE JOHN A KENIAPISIA
PUISNE JUDGE

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^[1] Criminal Appeal Case No 17 of 2023 (13^th October 2023).
^[2] Regina v Bonuga [2014] SBCA 22; SICOA-CRAC 12 of 2014 (17^th October 2014).
^[3] [2012] SBHC 96; HCSI -CRC 97 of 2019 (24^th July 2021).