Police v Efeso [2015] WSSC 38 (13 April 2015)

SUPREME COURT OF SAMOA
Police v Efeso [2015] WSSC 38

Case name:	Police v Efeso
Citation:	[2015] WSSC 38
Decision date:	13 April 2015
Parties:	POLICE v TAMATOA LOGO EFESO (accused)
Hearing date(s):
File number(s):	S394/15
Jurisdiction:	Criminal
Place of delivery:	Supreme Court of Samoa, Mulinuu
Judge(s):	Chief Justice Sapolu
On appeal from:
Order:	- The accused is discharged without conviction under s104 of the Criminal Procedure Act 1972 and ordered to pay costs of $250 to the prosecution.
Representation:	P Chang for prosecution Accused in person
Catchwords:	Forgery – maximum penalty – early guilty plea – aggravating and mitigating features – previous good character – reconciliation – sentence
Words and phrases:
Legislation cited:	Crimes Act 2013,s.194
Cases cited:
Summary of decision:

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF SAMOA
HELD AT MULINUU

FILE NO: S394/15

BETWEEN

POLICE
Prosecution

AND

TAMATOA LOGO EFESO male of Satufia Satupaitea
Accused

Counsel:
P Chang for prosecution
Accused in person

Sentence: 13 April 2015

S E N T E N C E

The charges

1. The accused appears for sentence on nine charges of forgery, contrary to s.194 of the Crimes Act 2013, each of which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment. To all the charges, the accused pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.

The offending

2. The accused is the principal of the Sili primary school in Savaii. He has been principal of the school for about four years.
3. The Ministry of Education has a scheme called the Samoa School Fee Grant Scheme. Under this scheme, every primary school in Samoa is given a grant to assist the school with its expenses and also to purchase materials and resources needed by the school.
4. In 2013, the Sili primary school was given a grant in the form of a cheque under the scheme to assist the school with its expenses and also to purchase materials and resources needed by the school. The grant was received by the accused as school principal and the Sili school committee and was deposited into the school’s account in one of the banks. There are three authorised signatories for this account but only the signatures of two of the signatories is required to draw a cheque on the account. These are the signatures of the accused as school principal and one of the other two signatories. These other two signatories are the pulenuu of Sili and another matai of the village who are members of the school committee.
5. As it appears from the pre-sentence report, the accused told the probation service that the school was in desperate need of books, pencils, toners, A4 papers, text books as well as toiletries but the school committee still had not had their first annual general meeting of the year so that funds required to meet the needs of the school could not be withdrawn from the school’s bank account. The accused therefore decided to forge the signature of the pulenuu on nine cheques in order to be able to withdraw funds from the school’s bank account to meet the school’s expenses and to purchase the stationeries and toiletries that were needed by the school. He did this on nine separate occasions from 29 April 2013 to 2 March 2014. The total amount of the withdrawals was $31,924.50. All the funds withdrawn in this way were used to meet the needs of the school; none was used by the accused for himself. This has been confirmed by the pulenuu of Sili and the Sili school committee to the Court.

The accused

6. The accused is a 50 year old male of Satufia, Satupaitea. He is married with two young children. He is also the sole provider for his family.
7. The accused is a first offender and the testimonials presented on his behalf show that he has been a person of remarkably good character prior to the commission of these offences. The testimonial from the chief executive officer of the Ministry of Education shows that the accused started work as a primary school teacher in 1988. In 2006, he was promoted to the position of deputy principal at the Sataua primary school. In July the same year, he was further promoted to the position of principal at the Falelima primary school. In 2011, he was made principal of the Sili primary school which position he still holds up to now notwithstanding the present offences. The chief executive officer of the Ministry of Education also refers in his testimonial to the commitment, diligence, and leadership qualities of the accused as a teacher and that the accused has excelled in all areas of education, both in and out of the classroom. He is also a valuable member of the Ministry of Education.
8. The testimonial from the Alii and Faipule of Sili confirms that all the funds withdrawn by the accused from the Sili primary school bank account were used on the needs of the school and no funds were used by the accused for himself. The accused has also apologised to the Alii and Faipule and his apology was accepted so that everything has been settled and the school is progressing well. The Alii and Faipule of Sili also state that they have sorted out this matter with the Ministry of Education and they now plead with the Court that they want the accused to continue as principal of their village school. The implication is that they do not want their school principal to go to prison.
9. The testimonial by the pulenuu of Sili also confirms that the funds withdrawn by the accused from the bank account of the Sili primary school were all used on the needs of the school and that the accused did not use any funds for himself. The accused has also apologised to the pulenuu and his apology was accepted. The pulenuu also says that their village primary school is making good progress under the leadership of the accused and he prays to the Court that he wants the accused to continue as the principal of his village school. Again, the implication is that the pulenuu does not want the accused to go to prison.
10. There are also good testimonials on the accused provided by the pastor of his church and the pulenu’u of his village of Satufia, Satupaitea.

The victim

11. Obviously, this offending has had no adverse impact on the Sili primary school because all the funds withdrawn by the accused were utilised for the needs of the school. The village and the school committee became angry when they discovered that the accused had forged the pulenuu’s signature and withdrew funds which were from the grant from the Samoa School Fee Grant Scheme to assist the primary schools around the country to purchase the materials and resources needed by the schools. However, when the village and the school committee later found out that all the funds withdrawn by the accused were spent on the needs of the school and the accused has apologised to them, they have forgiven the accused and want him to continue as principal of their school. So the school, the village of Sili, and the school committee have suffered no financial or psychological harm.

Aggravating features relating to the offending

(a) Premeditation

12. This offending, like most cases of forgery, involved a high degree of premeditation.

(b) Extent of offending

13. This offending occurred on nine separate occasions over a period from 29 April 2013 to 2 March 2014.

(c) Amount involved

14. The total amount involved in this offending was $31,924.50.

(d) Breach of trust

15. This offending involved an element of breach of trust.

Mitigating features relating to the offending

(a) No benefit to the accused but the school

16. The accused derived no personal gain from the funds he withdrew. All the funds were spent on the needs of the school. The school is also making good progress under the leadership of the accused as its principal.

(b) Motive

17. As the accused told the probation service, the school was in desperate need of stationeries and toiletries but the school committee had still not held its first annual general meeting for the year so that funds could not be withdrawn from the school’s bank account to buy stationeries and toiletries needed by the school. So he forged the signature of the pulenuu in order to be able to withdraw funds from the school’s bank account. This was not a dishonest motive. If anything, it is a good motive because it was for the good of the school and the students who are the children of the village of Sili. In the circumstances, it was necessary to obtain funds to meet the needs of the school.

Mitigating features of relating to the accused as offender

(a) Previous good character

18. The accused at age 50 is a first offender and the good testimonials provided on his behalf show that he had been a person of remarkably good character prior to the commission of these offences. In particular, the testimonial from the chief executive officer of the Ministry of Education shows the good qualities of the accused as a teacher and principal.

(b) Reconciliation

19. The accused has apologised to the Alii and Faipule and pulenuu of Sili and his apologies were accepted. This matter has therefore been reconciled.

(c) Views of the Alii and Faipule and pulenuu of Sili

20. The Alii and Faipule and the pulenuu of Sili want the accused to continue as the principal of their village school. The pulenuu says that their school has made good progress under the leadership of the accused.

(d) Plea of guilty

21. The accused has pleaded guilty to the charges against him at the earliest opportunity.

Discussion

22. Having given careful consideration to the aggravating features relating to the offending and the mitigating features relating to the accused as offender, I have decided not to impose a custodial sentence. The accused is discharged without conviction under s104 of the Criminal Procedure Act 1972 and ordered to pay $250 costs to the prosecution.
23. I have decided to discharge the accused without conviction because at the age of 50 years he is a first offender and it is clear that his motive for committing this offending was for the good of the school and the students. Very good testimonials have also been submitted on his behalf in relation to his character. To enter a conviction against him now, would be to attach a black mark to his name when he is a first offender at the age of 50 years and the reason why he committed these offences was to meet the desperate needs of the school and its students who are the children of the village of Sili.

Result

24. The accused is discharged without conviction under s104 of the Criminal Procedure Act 1972 and ordered to pay costs of $250 to the prosecution.

Honourable Chief Justice