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State v Mara - Sentence 2 [2000] FJHC 188; Criminal Case 2.2000 (31 August 2000)

IN THE HIGH COURT OF FIJI
AT SUVA
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION

CRIMINAL CASE NO. 2 OF 2000

STATE

V

APOROSA MARA
MAHEN LAL s/o Hari Lal

Mr. R. Schuster for the State
Accused in person

SENTENCE

ROBBERY WITH VIOLENCE:
Contrary to Section 293(1) (b) of the Penal Code, Cap.17

(First accused only)

In sentencing you I take into account what you have said in mitigation. You have asked the Court to give you a suspended sentence. Looking at your record of previous convictions, you do not qualify for a suspended sentence. Normally a suspended sentence is reserved or given to a person who has a clean record.

I can see that you embarked on a life of crime in 1978. If you are 40 years of age at the moment then you must have been 18 years old at that time. So you have spent almost 22 years of your life involved in crime and have spent a considerable time in prison. However, I will not be punishing you for all that but you did not have a good record when you committed the present offence.

This is a very serious offence; it carried a sentence of life imprisonment with or without corporal punishment. I am telling you these things so that when you come out of prison, for I am going to impose a prison sentence on you, you will bear them in mind and turn over a new leaf.

As I said there is no way I can avoid imposing a custodial sentence on you. The general public had to be protected from offences of this nature from people like you. In this case a large sum of money was involved and hardly anything was recovered.

The two other accused in this case pleaded guilty and had already been sentenced. One was sentenced by the Magistrate’s Court and received 2½ years imprisonment and the other Mahen Lal was sentenced to 2 years by this Court.

For your part in the robbery I sentence you to imprisonment for 3 (three) years which is to be served consecutive to any sentence which you are at present serving.

D. Pathik
Judge

At Suva
31 August 2000