Police v Aiomalaga [2015] WSSC 172 (19 October 2015)

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF SAMOA
Police v Aiomalaga and Aiomalaga [2015] WSSC 172

Case name:	Police v Aiomalaga and Aiomalaga
Citation:	[2015] WSSC 172
Decision date:	19 October 2015
Parties:	The Police (prosecution) and Tauaga Sale Aiomalaga, male of Lalomauga and Fala Sale Aiomalaga, male of Lalomauga.
Hearing date(s):	-
File number(s):	S2781/15
Jurisdiction:	Criminal
Place of delivery:	Supreme Court, Mulinuu
Judge(s):	Justice Vaai
On appeal from:
Order:	Both defendants will be placed on Probation. For the defendant Fala he is convicted and placed on Probation for 2 years on conditions that he will perform 50 hours of community work. For the defendant Tauaga he is convicted and placed on Probation for 12 months on conditions that he performs 50 hours of community work. The defendant Tauaga will also pay cost of prosecution of $800 tala to be paid by monthly payment of $200 tala, the first payment to be made on the 30th October 2015 which is 2 weeks away.
Representation:	R Titi for prosecution
	Unrepresented
Catchwords:	Causing bodily harm – liable to 7 years imprisonment – no permanent injuries
Words and phrases:
Legislation cited:
Cases cited:
Summary of decision:

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF SAMOA

HELD AT MULINUU

BETWEEN:

POLICE
Prosecution

AND:

TAUAGA SALE AIOMALAGA male of Lalomauga and FALA SALE AIOMALAGA, male of Lalomauga
Defendants

Counsel:
R Titi for prosecution
Unrepresented

Sentence: 19 October 2015

S E N T E N C E

1. Both defendants appear for sentence on the charge of causing bodily harm for which they are liable to 7 years imprisonment.
2. The defendant Tauaga is 32 years and Fala is 25 years. About a week before the incident which led to the charges against these two defendants, the older defendant Tauaga was involved in a fight with the victim.
3. The victim was about 11 years younger than the defendant Fala but he came better off after the fight, he caused Tauaga some injuries as a result of the fight. Obviously the defendant Tauaga had a grudge against the victim for sometime. A week later he and the second defendant Fala saw the victim walking, they gave chase, there were two of them against one, and if Tauaga was by himself he would not as a coward did what they did.
4. In any event as they were chasing the victim, the victim fell to the ground and the two defendants started the assault. The assault only came to a stop when people stopped the two defendants. There was obviously some element of pre-meditation by the defendant Tauaga who had been assaulted the week earlier.
5. For your benefit the victim did not suffer any significant permanent injuries. The victim was however admitted to Motootua hospital and under medical examination the victim was observed to have had a black eye and his right shoulder had superficial pain although there were no bruises. I have read the pre-sentence reports prepared for both defendants. They obviously had very limited education and both are unemployed. Unfortunately there is nothing before me to say that either defendant had shown any remorse by apologising to the victim. The probation service report says that the defendant Tauaga is suitable for community based sentence. No recommendation is made for the defendant Fala probably because he has a previous conviction for charges of possession of narcotics. This is not related to narcotics so I will not take that previous conviction into account. If serious injuries had been inflicted I would have had no hesitation in considering a custodial sentence for both defendants.
6. Both defendants will be placed on Probation. For the defendant Fala he is convicted and placed on Probation for 2 years on conditions that he will perform 50 hours of community work. For the defendant Tauaga he is convicted and placed on Probation for 12 months on conditions that he performs 50 hours of community work. The defendant Tauaga will also pay cost of prosecution of $800 tala to be paid by monthly payment of $200 tala, the first payment to be made on the 30^th October 2015 which is 2 weeks away.

JUSTICE VAAI