Public Prosecutor v Wowut [2024] VUSC 279; Criminal Case 2713 of 2024 (19 September 2024)

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE REPUBLIC OF VANUATU (Criminal Jurisdiction)

Criminal Case No. 24/2713 SC/CRM

BETWEEN:	Public Prosecutor
AND:	Douglas Wowut Defendant

Date of Plea: Date of sentence:	16th day of September, 2024 19th day of September, 2024
Before:	Justice E.P Goldsbrough

In Attendance:

Tasso, M for Prosecution Garae, Jr for Defence

SENTENCE

1. When you appeared in Court earlier this week, you pleaded guilty to a charge of making a threat to kill members of your immediate family and to maltreatment of an animal. A third charge has been discontinued. What the prosecution alleged against you was read out in Court, and on your behalf, your counsel told the Court that you agreed with what was read out.
2. You chased your sister-in-law and her son with an iron bar, shouting, ‘You want me to kill you with this iron bar’. They both knew of your violent disposition and did not waste time running away. This you did in anger, for what you regarded as a wrong when a wall in your house which they occupied was removed.
3. Similarly, you acted in anger when you cut a bullock's leg. You did not kill the beast outright but injured the beast, causing it to die some days later from the injury you inflicted. That amounts to the offence of causing unnecessary suffering to the animal.
4. Making a threat to kill carries a maximum sentence of fifteen years imprisonment. Causing unnecessary suffering to an animal carries a maximum sentence of two years imprisonment.
5. Those maximum penalties, together with the details of your offences, inform the Court of the correct penalty to be imposed on you. When you uttered the threat to kill, you had with you a weapon. The threat was not only to an adult but also to a child. You chased them both, causing them and the wider community who witnessed this to be put in fear. This was not the first time the same community witnessed your bad behaviour. The animal you injured will have felt pain until it finally died from the injury you inflicted.
6. A starting point of eighteen months imprisonment is fixed.
7. You have pleaded guilty at the first available opportunity. You are entitled to credit for that as it has saved time and spared you victims of the ordeal of a trial. A reduction of one-third is allowed. That reduces your sentence to twelve months.
8. You have been in trouble before, so a reduction cannot be made because of your previous good character. You have spent time in pre-sentence custody, and you are entitled to have that time deducted from your sentence. You were arrested on 9^th March 2024 and have been in custody since then. That is more than six months of pre-sentence custody. Your lawyer describes it as one hundred and ninety five days. Given the normal deduction of one half for good behaviour awarded that is the same as a sentence of more than twelve months imprisonment.
9. You told the Probation Officer who wrote the report about you that you had good reason for behaving as you did. You injured the bullock because cattle were always causing damage in your garden. You threatened your sister-in-law because of the removal of a wall without your permission. It appears to this Court that you do not appreciate that your response to these perceived wrongs is unacceptable.
10. Within the community where you live, you are well known for your temper, and for that reason, people avoid you. You have committed similar offences against family members before and have served a prison sentence before.
11. You told the Probation Officer about your use of cannabis and your cultivation of it that you stopped. As that may have contributed to how you react to perceived wrongs against you, it might be good to try and maintain that abstinence. You may well need assistance in that.
12. Your counsel's expression of remorse is inconsistent with your remarks made to the Probation Officer justifying your behaviour. There is no evidence of any customary reconciliation – saying sorry to the victim is not a customary reconciliation.
13. You have already served an effective sentence of imprisonment of more than twelve months and so this Court orders your immediate release from custody. The Court further orders that you be made the subject of a supervision order, including an anger management module, for one year from today.
14. After the terms of the supervision have been explained to you, you have 14 days to appeal if you wish to do so.

DATED at Port Vila this 19^th day of September, 2024
BY THE COURT

...........................
E.P Goldsbrough

Judge of the Supreme Court