Police v Ah See [2012] WSSC 73 (27 August 2012)

SUPREME COURT OF SAMOA

Police v Ah See [2012] WSSC 73

Case name: Police v Ah See

Citation: [2012] WSSC 73

Decision date: 27 August 2012

Parties:

POLICE v SPENCER aka LOTOMAU AH SEE, male of Faala Palauli and Auala Savaii

Hearing date(s):

File number(s):

Jurisdiction: Criminal

Place of delivery: Mulinuu

Judge(s): Nelson J

On appeal from:

Order:

Representation:
Ms L Taimalelagi for prosecution

Defendant unrepresented

Catchwords:

Words and phrases:

Legislation cited:

Cases cited:

Summary of decision:

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF SAMOA

HELD AT MULINUU

BETWEEN:

THE POLICE
Informant

AND:

SPENCER aka LOTOMAU AH SEE, male of Faala Palauli and Auala Savaii.
Defendant

Counsel: Ms L Taimalelagi for prosecution

Defendant unrepresented

Sentence: 27 August 2012

SENTENCE

The defendant appears for sentence on 13 counts of theft as a servant each of which carries a maximum penalty of 7 years. The summary of facts which the defendant admits states that he is a 27 year old male of Palauli and Auala married with two children.

He was at the time of these offences employed by Tradepac Limited as Sales Delivery Supervisor responsible for deliveries in Savaii. As supervisor he was responsible for supervising the delivery truck and to take care of the needs of customers in Savaii including receiving payments of cash for purchases. What he did in this case was in relation to some of the payments made he would record them in the documents as credit purchases not yet paid and put the cash that was paid by the customers into his pocket for his own personal use.

He did this on 13 separate occasions leading to the 13 charges. The amounts in respect of each charge range from the lowest of $74.90 to the highest of $554.80. The offences were committed over the late December 2011 to late March 2012 period which is about a space of 3 months. The total amount involved in these thefts was $3,255.10.

Again because theft as a servant is a serious offence and a very common one in our community the courts usually impose terms of imprisonment for these sorts of cases. I have reviewed the defendants case and there is no reason to depart from the normal policy. He was the supervisor for the Savaii run. As such the degree of trust placed in him by his employer was significant. The total value involved in the thefts is also significant and these thefts were committed on 13 different occasions.

As I have stated the offence carries a maximum of 7 years in prison but considering the circumstances of your matter an appropriate penalty would be 12 months in prison. That takes into account the fact that you are a first offender Spencer and that you pleaded guilty to these charges. Your family have asked that the court also order that your term of imprisonment be served in Savaii. Unfortunately that is not an order I can make. But that is an application you can make to the Prison Authorities and normally for Savaii prisoners it is granted. For what it is worth I will recommend to the prosecution that they allow that to be done. For this matter your total sentence for these offences will be a period of 12 months in prison.

JUSTICE NELSON