Police v Mailo [2019] WSSC 17 (18 February 2019)

SUPREME COURT OF SAMOA
Police v Mailo [2019] WSSC 17

Case name:	Police v Mailo
Citation:	[2019] WSSC 17
Decision date:	18 February 2019
Parties:	POLICE v MOKE MOKE MAILO a.k.a MOKE MAKA male of Faleula and Toamua-uta.
Sentencing date(s):	18 February 2019
File number(s):
Jurisdiction:	Criminal
Place of delivery:	Supreme Court of Samoa, Mulinuu
Judge(s):	JUSTICE LEIATAUALESA DARYL MICHAEL CLARKE
On appeal from:
Order:	- I adopt information S2/19 the charge of burglary as the lead charge and I adopt 4 years imprisonment as the start point. I uplift that by 6 months for your prior convictions, and I deduct 2 months for your remorse, and 14 months for your guilty pleas, leaving and end sentence of 3 years and 2 months imprisonment less time remanded in custody. In respect of the charge of theft S4/19, you are convicted and sentenced to 2 years imprisonment concurrent. And for the remaining charges, 6 months imprisonment concurrent. So you will be sentenced in total to 3 years and 2 months imprisonment less time remanded in custody. - Moke I hope that this is the last time you appear before the Court for this offending.
Representation:	L Sio for prosecution Accused self-represented
Catchwords:
Words and phrases:	Burglary and theft; prior convictions for burglary and theft; domestic nature of your break-ins; committed two breakings on the same day; pre-meditated; value of the goods stolen
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

MOKE MOKE MAILO a.k.a MOKE MAKA male of Faleula and Toamua-uta.
Accused

Counsel:
L Sio for prosecution
Accused self-represented

Decision: 18 February 2019

O R A L S E N T E N C E

The Charge:

[1] Moke, you appear for sentence on two charges of burglary and two charges of theft.

The Offending:

[2] According to the Summary of Facts accepted this afternoon, on the 14th of December 2018 at Vaitele-fou between 12pm an 1pm, you entered the first victim’s house without lawful authority and dishonestly took various items with a value total of $372.00.

[3] After you burgled the first home you then quickly went to the second victim’s home and entered the second victim’s home without lawful authority and took various items to a total value of $49,000.00.

[4] The total value of the items stolen by you on the 14 December was $49,372.00.

Background of the Accused:

[5] You are a 28 year old male of Faleula and Toamua. You are single and unemployed. You have confirmed your prior conviction record which shows your prior convictions for burglary and theft in June 2016 where you were imprisoned for 7 months. You also confirmed that you had earlier been sentenced on burglary and theft in 2014 where you were also sentenced to 7 months imprisonment.

The Victims:

[6] The first victim is a 58 year old female of Apolima-tai and Vaitele-fou. The second victim is a 59 year old male of Elise-fou.

[7] You have told the Court that in respect of the items stolen they were recovered by police.

Aggravating Features of the Offending:

[8] The following are the aggravating features of your offending:

(i) The domestic nature of your break-ins;
(ii) You committed two breakings on the same day;
(iii) I accept that your break-ins were pre-meditated; and
(iv) Most significantly is the value of the goods stolen by you.

[9] In terms of mitigating features of your offending, there are none. You did not voluntarily return the goods but these were retrieved by police as you tried to sell them at the market.

Aggravating Features personal to you as Offender:

[10] The aggravating features personal to you as an offender are your prior convictions for the same offending.

Mitigating Factors personal to you as Offender:

[11] In terms of the mitigating factors personal to you as an offender, I will allow you a nominal deduction for your remorse as well as your early guilty plea.

Discussion:

[12] Moke, you appear for sentencing on two charges of burglary and two charges of theft. It is not the first time that you have appeared for sentencing on these charges. You have appeared for sentencing for the same offending previously. Despite imprisonment you continued to commit burglary and theft.

[13] The offence of burglary accompanied by theft is a highly prevalent offence in the community. For domestic burglary as in your case it is and always has been considered a very serious offence. This is because the burglary may involve considerable loss to the victim and even if not, the victim may lose items or possession of particular value to them. The loss of possessions however is only one part of why a domestic burglary is a serious offence. It is also very serious because people place importance on their privacy and the security of their homes. When an intruder enters their home, that leaves a victim of these crimes with a sense of violation and insecurity.

[14] In your case, you are a repeat burglar and particularly aggravating in your case is the value of the goods stolen and that you burgled two homes. You told the Probation Service that you burgled the two homes because after selling pork buns, you went home and found that your sister had used the flour that you had set aside to make more pork buns. I must say that I find this explanation difficult to believe or understand as a motive to lead you to break into complete strangers homes and burgle them.

[11] The sentence I will impose today will be a custodial one. If you do not address your offending Moke and decide to change your ways, your life will be a revolving door to prison. I encourage you Moke to change your life. You do not want to go to prison, I am sure of that. The community also does not want to see you break-in to their homes. If you change your life, then that will be good for you as well as the community.

Result:

[12] I adopt information S2/19 the charge of burglary as the lead charge and I adopt 4 years imprisonment as the start point. I uplift that by 6 months for your prior convictions, and I deduct 2 months for your remorse, and 14 months for your guilty pleas, leaving and end sentence of 3 years and 2 months imprisonment less time remanded in custody. In respect of the charge of theft S4/19, you are convicted and sentenced to 2 years imprisonment concurrent. And for the remaining charges, 6 months imprisonment concurrent. So you will be sentenced in total to 3 years and 2 months imprisonment less time remanded in custody.

[13] Moke I hope that this is the last time you appear before the Court for this offending.

JUSTICE CLARKE