Police v Liuaana [2013] WSSC 102 (26 August 2013)

SUPREME COURT OF SAMOA

Police v Liuaana [2013] WSSC 102

Case name: Police v Liuaana

Citation: [2013] WSSC 102

Decision date: 26 August 2013
Parties:
POLICE v KALENA JUNIOR LIUAANA, male of Lalomalava and Faleula.

Hearing date(s):

File number(s):

Jurisdiction: Criminal

Place of delivery: Mulinuu

Judge(s): Justice Nelson

On appeal from:

Order:
Representation:
L Taimalelagi and O Tagaloa for prosecution

Catchwords:

Words and phrases:

Legislation cited:

Cases cited:

Summary of decision:

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF SAMOA
HELD AT MULINUU

BETWEEN:

THE POLICE

Prosecution

AND:

KALENA JUNIOR LIUAANA, male of Lalomalava and Faleula.
Defendant

Counsel: L Taimalelagi and O Tagaloa for prosecution
Defendant unrepresented

Sentence: 26 August 2013

SENTENCE

The defendant appears for sentence on one count of theft as a servant. He has pleaded guilty to stealing $5,000.00 from his employer Fexco Samoa Limited on 25 June this year. He is a 46 year old male of Lalomalava and Faleula married with 5 children. At the time of this offending he was employed as a driver and his job included delivering cash to and from the various branches of the company.

On the evening of 25 June he was instructed to take $33,000.00 in cash to the company branch at Faleolo. Unknown to the teller who released the money the defendant was given an extra $5,000.00 in other words a total sum of $38,000.00. The defendant knew there was $5,000 extra in the money given to him. But he did not report that to the head teller. He delivered the $33,000.00 to Faleolo and kept the $5,000.00 excess.

The next day the $5,000.00 was found to be missing and security camera footage confirmed it was the defendant who took it. The matter was reported to the police and hence the defendants court appearance this afternoon. Of that $5,000.00 some $1,460.00 has been returned to the company together with a sum of $500 making a total of $1,960.00. There has been an indication from the defendants sister that she would repay the balance but up to today nothing has happened.

The maximum penalty for a theft of this nature is now 10 years in prison pursuant to the new Crimes Act passed by Parliament this year. That is a recognition by Parliament of how prevalent this sort of offending has become. And the serious effect this sort of crime has on businesses and on the wider community. Deterrent imprisonment sentences for this kind of offence have been imposed in the past. Those deterrent sentences will continue to be imposed in appropriate circumstances in an effort to deter not only the offender but also others who may be thinking of committing this crime.

I accept that your theft was a theft of opportunity rather than a pre-planned theft. But it still represents a breach of the trust your employer put in you. A trust in you to carry around large amounts of money for your employer.

Considering all relevant circumstances a 4 year imprisonment start point is appropriate for your case Kalena. But there are certain deductions you are entitled to by law. For your guilty plea I will deduct one-third of sentence. Leaving a balance of 32 months. For the fact that you have a good background and a clean police record as referred to in the probation office report I will deduct 6 months from that balance. Leaves the balance of 26 months. In recognition of the fact that $1,960.00 of the $5,000.00 has been returned to the employer I will deduct a further 6 months from that balance. Leaves a balance of 20 months. There are no other deductions Kalena that you qualify for according to the law.

For the offence of theft as a servant you will be convicted and sentenced to 20 months in prison.

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