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State v Drasuna [2004] FJHC 461; HAC0014.2002L (15 September 2004)

IN THE HIGH COURT OF FIJI
AT LAUTOKA
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION

CRIMINAL CASE NO. HAC0014 OF 2002L

THE STATE

V

JOJI DRASUNA

Mr. K. Tunidau for the State
Mr. H.A. Shah for the Accused

Hearing: 8, 9 & 13 September 2004
Sentence: 15 September 2004

SENTENCE

Joji Drasuna, by the unanimous opinion of the 3 assessors, you have been found guilty after trial on one (1) count of unlawful use of a motor vehicle and one (1) count of robbery with violence. I have concurred with the opinions of the assessors and you have accordingly been convicted.

The facts briefly stated are these:

About a month before, 23^rd May 2002 you and others made a plan to rob the Bank of Baroda at Lautoka. The plan was to steal a vehicle to transport you to and from the bank and at Simla you were to get into a getaway vehicle.

On the 23^rd May 2002, you and others stole a Pajero motor vehicle subject to the first count and you and others loaded cane knives, beer bottles, pinch bars and an axe into the Pajero. Wearing blue overalls you and others drove to the Bank of Baroda at about 10.00am. You put a balaclava on your head, as did the others and armed with the weapons referred to above, you entered the bank. There were at the time a number of people including staff in the bank.

You and the others ordered everyone to lie on the floor. An axe was placed to the neck of one of the tellers, Sabita Raj and she was robbed of the sum of $202,000.00 belonging to the Bank of Baroda and the sum of $70.00 and a coat valued at $40.00 belonging to her personally. Further monies were stolen from within the bank making a total of $207,151.00 that was stolen belonging to the Bank of Baroda.

You and the others then made your escape in the Pajero and headed towards Tavakubu where you shared the loot. Subsequently, on the 3^rd July 2002 at Mataniqara in Ba, you were arrested.

You made a record of interview in which you admitted the offence and gave to the police details of your role in the commission of the offence.

In mitigation you say that you are 34 years of age, now in a de facto relationship and that a 5 months old baby girl has been born as a result of that relationship.

You were brought up by your grandparents in Lautoka and joined your natural father and stepmother in 1998 after your release from prison.

You have convictions dating back to 1987 and on the 23^rd December 1998, you were sentenced to 4 years imprisonment for robbery with violence and 6 months imprisonment for unlawful use of a motor vehicle. You quite clearly have not learnt your lesson.

The terror, alarm and trauma you caused to ordinary members of the public and the bank staff in going about their lawful business and performing their duties cannot be ignored. The court must send a message to would be robbers that this type of unlawful behaviour is viewed very seriously by the courts.

A large amount of cash was stolen and not recovered.

One of your co-accused, Apete Tamani, was sentenced by Govind J. on the 30^th October 2003 and he received 4 months imprisonment with respect to the 1^st Count of unlawful use of a motor vehicle and with respect to the 2^nd Count, His Lordship used 7 years as a starting point and gave a discount of 1 ½ years for the plea of guilty and with other adjustments ended up with a resultant term of imprisonment of 6 years and 3 months.

But for the principle of parity in sentencing, I would be using a much higher period as the starting point for the offence for which you have been convicted.

I am however obliged to use as a starting point 7 years. You are not entitled to any discount. You have a very poor record which, as I have said, includes prior convictions for identical offences.

The commission of the offence is aggravated by the pre-planning that took place, the large amount of cash that was stolen and the fact that it was done in company. These aggravating factors and your prior record necessitate the imposition of a further term of 2 years imprisonment which leads to an ultimate sentence of 9 years imprisonment.

Sentence

With respect to the charge of unlawful use of a motor vehicle, I sentence you to a term of imprisonment of 4 months.

With respect to the 2^nd Count, of armed robbery, I sentence you to a term of imprisonment of 9 years from today.

I order that the sentence on Count 1 be concurrent with the sentence on Count 2.

JOHN CONNORS
JUDGE

At Lautoka
15 September 2004