Police v Faavae [2018] WSSC 124 (11 October 2018)

SUPREME COURT OF SAMOA
Police v Faavae [2018] WSSC 124

Case name:	Police v Vaafagota Faavae
Citation:	[2018] WSSC 124
Sentence date:	11 October 2018
Parties:	POLICE v VAAFAGOTA FAVAE male Malie-uta and Tafaigata Prison.
File number(s):
Jurisdiction:	Criminal
Place of delivery:	Supreme Court of Samoa, Mulinuu
Judge(s):	JUSTICE LEIATAUALESA DARYL MICHAEL CLARKE
On appeal from:
Order:	- Convicted on both charges and sentenced to 11 months imprisonment, that is to be served concurrently. That sentence however is cumulative to your current imprisonment term.
Representation:	L Faasii for prosecution Accused self-represented
Catchwords:	burglary and theft, Premeditation.
Words and phrases:	defendant entered the victim’s house without lawful authority, immediately sold the guitar to a taxi driver and later sold the chain saw
Legislation cited:
Cases cited:
Summary of decision:

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF SAMOA
HELD AT MULINUU

BETWEEN

P O L I C E
Prosecution

A N D

VAAFAGOTA FAAVAE male Malie-uta and Tafaigata Prison.
Accused

Counsel:
L Faasii for prosecution
Accused self-represented

Sentence: 11 October 2018

SETENCE

The Charge:

[1] Vaafagota, you appear for sentence on 1 charge of burglary and one charge of theft of items valued at $2,800.00.

The Offending:

[2] You have accepted the Summary of Facts which I will not read in full. According to the summary of facts however on the 20 April 2017 at around 2pm at Nuu-Fou, the defendant entered the victim’s house without lawful authority and stole the following:

• One chain saw valued at $1,600.00SAT; and
• One acoustic guitar valued at $1,200.00SAT

[3] You immediately sold the guitar to a taxi driver following your burglary and theft and later sold the chain saw.

Background of the Accused:

[4] You are a 22 year old male of Malie-Uta. You are single and unemployed. You completed school to year 11 and went on to complete a diploma in automotive studies.

[5] Your mother says that you are good, caring and respectful but that peer pressure is a cause of your offending.

[6] You have prior convictions for similar dishonesty offending in 2012, 2013 and 2017. You are currently serving a prison term of 2 years for your sentence imposed in October last year.

The Victim:

[7] The victim is a 61 year old male of Nuu-Fou and Sydney Australia. He is a church Minister for the AOG Church.

[8] He confirms that after your offending, he recovered the chain saw and his guitar although the guitar is not the same.

[9] The Victim Impact Report refers to other items allegedly stolen. For the purposes of the sentencing, I ignore those references as they are not part of the items of which the accused is being sentenced today.

Aggravating Features of the Offending:

[10] The aggravating features of your offending are:

(i) Premeditation and;
(ii) The value of the goods stolen.

Aggravating Features in respect of the Offending:

[11] In terms of aggravating factors personal to you as an offender they are your previous convictions for similar offending in 2012, 2013 and 2017.

Mitigating Factors:

[12] The mitigating features to take into account on sentence is your guilty plea and a nominal account for banishment. Your village mayor has confirmed that no penalty or fine was impose or paid by you for your offending.

Discussion:

[13] Vaafagota, your life story is sadly one that comes to the Court far too often. Your life Vaafagota is now on a cycle of crime involving breaking the law and imprisonment. It is a path that will continue for the rest of your life unless you decide to change your life. Others can try and help you to change your life but only you can make that happen.

[14] I encourage you to change your life – I am certain that you can do so, and many who have been on the same cycle of crime that you are now on have been able to change their lives. But as I said, only you can change your life and I hope you make that change.

[15] For your sentence, I adopt 12 months start point for sentence. I uplift that by 3 months for your prior convictions. I then deduct 1 month for your banishment and 3 months for your guilty plea. So that leaves and end sentence of 11 months imprisonment.

The Penalty:

[16] Accordingly, you are convicted on both charges and sentenced to 11 months imprisonment, that is to be served concurrently. That sentence however is cumulative to your current imprisonment term.

JUSTICE CLARKE