Police v Lealuga [2011] WSSC 10 (11 February 2011)

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF SAMOA
HELD AT APIA

BETWEEN:

THE POLICE
Informant

AND:

ASI LEALUGA
male of Sataua.
Defendant

Counsels: Ms P Valoia for prosecution
Defendant unrepresented

Sentence: 14 February 2011

SENTENCE

This defendant appears for sentence on a charge of possession of narcotics. The maximum penalty for this offence is now 14 years in prison having been increased recently by Parliament from 7 years to 14 years. That shows Parliaments concern about drug offending which mirrors the concern that this court has expressed many times in the past. The court has continuously stated that drug offending is a sure path to prison because we are trying to stamp out this prevalent and growing crime in our society. Because of that the policy has long been to impose deterrent sentences and hopefully convey the message that if you involve yourself in narcotics you have a very high chance of going to jail. There are exceptions to that policy but these are few and far between.

In this case Asi you were caught in possession of 12 cigarettes. You have stated that these drugs were not yours but they were given to you by someone you helped. But that is irrelevant, you were caught by the police in possession of these 12 cigarettes at Mulifanua wharf.

Considering penalties for this sort of offending a 9 to 12 month imprisonment term would be appropriate. Because you are a first offender because your previous conviction is for a different kind of offence and because you have pleaded guilty to the charge and saved the courts time and because you have expressed remorse for your offending which I accept, and I accept your statement that you wont repeat this sort of offence, your penalty for this possession will be reduced. Accordingly you are convicted and sentenced to 3 months in prison for this matter.

............................
JUSTICE NELSON