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State v Turagakula [2011] FJHC 284; HAC107.2007 (23 May 2011)

IN THE HIGH COURT OF FIJI
AT LAUTOKA
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION

HIGH COURT CRIMINAL CASE NO: HAC 107 0F 2007

BETWEEN

STATE
PROSECUTION

AND

ISEI TURAGAKULA
THE ACCUSED

Counsel: Ms. Fong, State Counsel - Counsel for prosecution
Mr. T. Terere - Counsel for the accused

Date of Plea : 13th May, 2011
Date of Sentencing Submissions : 17th May, 2011
Date of Sentence : 23rd May, 2011

RULING ON SENTENCE

1. You, Isei Turagakula, pleaded guilty to three counts of 'Robbery with Violence' punishable under Section 293 (1) (b) of the Penal Code.
   
2. Summary of facts, submitted by the State, was admitted by you. Court, after being satisfied that your plea of guilt was voluntary and free from any influence, proceeded to accept the plea. Conviction was accordingly entered against you for the commission of the offences as contained in the information.
   
3. Facts reveal that you, along with a few others unknown, had driven vehicle bearing No EN 527 to three service stations and robbed cash and valuables between 6.30 p.m. and 7.30 p.m. on 27 May 2007. On all three occasions you, along with the others, were fully masked and armed with deadly weapons such as cane knives and pinch bars.
   
4. In the first instance, you together with others filled-in the vehicle with fuel for $ 40.00 at Total Filling Station at Vitogo Parade opposite Post Fiji Office in Lautoka and got off from the vehicle at the entrance. You stood guard and paved the way for your companions to hold the cashier under threat of injury and ask for the cash box. They, thereupon, proceeded to empty the cash box into a bag where the total was found to be $ 1862.25. They also took cigarettes valued at $ 226.00, phone cards and confectioneries to the total value of $ 4016.24 before you fleeing from the scene.
   
5. In the second instance, you along with others, drove into the Carpenters Service Station at Vitogo Parade. You re-enacted the same scenario and stood guard having allowed your companions to rob the station. After chasing away the station attendants, your companions held the cashier under threat of injury and asked for the cash till. They emptied the till, which was full of cash and also took cigarettes, the total value of which was $ 1175.00. You then fled the scene to enact another at Auto Care Service Station at Vitogo Parade minutes thereafter.
   
6. In the third instance at Auto Care Service Station, you stood guard while your companions engaged in the third act of robbery of the day, where you took away $ 2427.00 in cash, phone cards, some confectioneries and cigarettes to the value of $ 9057.00.
   
7. It is in light of these admitted facts that you stand convicted for the offences of 'Robbery with Violence' under Section 293 (1) (b) of the Penal Code in all three counts as your singular act of standing guard for others to commit robberies show the joint enterprise upon which you too become equally criminally liable for the commission of the offences. You present yourself before me now to receive your sentence after accepting the criminal liability by way of your unqualified plea.
   
8. The maximum sentence for the offence of robbery with violence attracted an imprisonment for life under the Penal Code at the discretion of court.
   
9. In passing the appropriate sentence on you, I bear in mind the general principle of sentencing under Section 15 (3) of the Sentencing and Penalties Decree (the Decree), which states:
   

'As a general principle of sentencing, a court may not impose a more serious sentence unless it is satisfied that a lesser or alternative sentence will not meet the objectives of sentencing stated in Section 4, and sentences of imprisonment should be regarded as the sanction of last resort taking into account all matters stated in [the General Sentencing Provisions of the Decree'.

And, I also pay due regard to the objectives and purposes of sentencing as stated in Section 4 of the Decree in considering the sentence against you.

10. In view of the high prevalence of incidents of robbery with violence, the range of sentence for the offence kept enhancing. The normal range of sentence for 'Robbery with Violence' is now 10 to 16 years in the High Court State v Rasaqio [2010] FJHC 287; HAC 155/2007 State v Basa: AU0024/04, Wainiqolo v State: AAU0027/06 and State v Rokonabete HAC 118/07.

11. The above principle was adopted in State vs Nileshwar Singh (HAC 022 of 2010) where the starting point for the term of imprisonment was set at the lowest point of 10 years for an offence of 'Robbery with Violence'.

12. I am satisfied, as sanctioned by Section 15(3) of the Decree, that a lesser sentence or an alternative sentence would not meet the objectives of sentencing in Section 4 of the Decree. Instead, I am justifiably persuaded to consider a term of imprisonment that befits the facts of this case.
13. Commercial establishments that came to be robbed are frequented by members of public. They were places, which stored inflammables and there was a greater risk of destruction when such places are interrupted with this kind of violent offending. You along with your companions, instilled fear of horror and carried-out your acts of robbery having invaded the right to property in such inflammable environments, which could easily engulf in severe devastation.
14. Aggravating factors that need be considered in this case, therefore, are:
(i) The offences were committed at commercial establishments after the nightfall;
(ii) You were armed with deadly weapons and put the employees at all three places under threats of serious injury and instilled fear in them;
(iii) You grouped together with the others who hitherto remain unknown in an organised manner by being masked to conceal identity and commit the offences;
(iv) The high value of the property robbed from each of the establishments.
15. In the circumstances, I consider that the offences for which you are convicted now, as very serious. I accordingly pick-up 12 years as the starting point and add 4 years to reflect aggravating factors and arrive at 16 years of imprisonment in respect of each count.

16. I, however, proceed to consider the appropriate sentence on you after taking into account submissions made in mitigation on your behalf. It was submitted that:

(i) You are now 25 years of age;

(ii) You are a father of two children;

(iii) You are really remorseful and want to reform yourself;

(iv) You regularly undergo rehabilitation and a process of counselling whilst currently serving a 12 1/2 year term of imprisonment;

(v) Your early guilty plea saving the time and resources of court and those of the State;

(vi) Your guilty plea dispensed with the necessity of a trial and saved the complainant of a possible traumatic agony of going through the ordeal of the crime at your hands by means of evidence in court; and,

(vii) You co-operated with the police and confessed to the police in a genuine gesture of admitting the crime.

17. I consider your guilty plea as a genuine display of your true remorse and give you a substantial reduction of 4 years and reach at 12 years of imprisonment. I further reduce 06 months in recognition of your engagement in the process of reform and rehabilitation whilst in prison. I further reduce another six months for your personal background and educational level making the total period of sentence to be 11 years.
18. I accordingly impose a term of 11 year imprisonment as your sentence in respect of each count of 'Robbery with Violence'. Your Sentences accordingly are:
(i) First Count- 11 years imprisonment;
(ii) Second Count-11 years imprisonment
(iii) Third Count-11 years imprisonment
19. All three terms shall run concurrently along with the terms of sentences that you are currently serving in terms of Section 22 (1) of the Sentencing and Penalties Decree. You shall not be eligible for parole until you complete 10 years in imprisonment.
20. The sentence is to be treated as having been effected from 13th May 2011, the date on which you tendered your plea of guilty.
PRIYANTHA NAWANA
JUDGE
HIGH COURT
LAUTOKA
23rd May, 2011