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R v Napola [2025] SBHC 51; HCSI-CRC 87 of 2025 (26 March 2025)

HIGH COURT OF SOLOMON ISLANDS

IN THE HIGH COURT OF SOLOMON ISLANDS
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION

Criminal Case No. 87 of 2025

REX

V

THOMSON NAPOLA

Date of Hearing: 26 March 2025
Date of Sentence: 26 March 2025

Counsel; Ms Rehomora and Ms Cleven for the Crown
Counsel; Mr Onorio for the Defendant

Keniapisia; PJ

VERDICT AND SENTENCE

1. Mr. Thomson Napola from Laro village, Reef Islands is indicted for raping 6 years old complainant, Joy Napwai Kaupenga contrary to Section 136F (1) (a) and (b) of the 2016 Act. The sexual intercourse type alleged here is “fingering” as well as “licking” inside the complainant’s vagina. The information containing the indictment was filed on 26/03/2025, the last day of Lata circuit. However, counsel are adamant to bring the matter to conclusion during this circuit.
2. I arraigned the defendant after 4:00 pm on 26/03/2025. He pleaded guilty to the charge of rape. Then I proceeded to hear sentencing and mitigation submissions on the basis of the defendant’s guilty plea and summary of agreed facts. I will convict Napola upon his guilty plea. The outstanding issue is to determine the appropriate sentence.
3. The summary of agreed facts filed on 26/03/2025 are partly adopted as follows: -
   • (i) Thomson Napola, the defendant is from Laro village, Reef Islands, Temotu Province. He was 60 years old in November 2024. The complainant Joy Napwai Kaupenga is also from Laro village, Reef Islands, Temotu Province. She was 6 years old in November 2024.
   • (ii) Defendant and complainant were residing at Laro village, Reef Islands, Temotu Province in November 2024.
   • (iii) On 15^th November 2024, there was a fundraising event at Laro village, to raise funds for a church festival day. During the fundraising, few members of the community consumed alcohol. The defendant also drank beer that night until the next day.
   • (iv) On 16^th November 2024, between 9.00 am and 10.00 am, the complainant’s grandmother sent her to go to Salini’s house to get their small knife back. When the complainant arrived at Salini’s house there was no one at home.
   • (v) The defendant approached the complainant. He was drunk. The defendant told the complainant to go and sit down on a bed in the kitchen house. The complainant went into the kitchen and sat on the bed as instructed.
   • (vi) The defendant followed the complainant to where she was sitting. The defendant went and sat down on a solar base facing the complainant on the bed. The defendant parted the complainant’s legs.
   • (vii) The defendant then pushed his finger inside the complainant’s vagina several times. The complainant felt pain in her vagina. After that, the defendant leaned forward towards the complainant’s vagina and licked her vagina.
   • (viii) The complainant was very scared of the defendant so she cried and told the defendant that she wanted to go back to her grandmother.
   • (ix) The defendant stood up and told the complainant to go back to her grandmother. Then he went away. Margaret Salini and Mark Nablosi saw what the defendant did to the complainant.
   • (x) The complainant went back to her grandmother. Salini followed the complainant, asked her about what happened and relayed the story to her grandmother. The complainant’s grandmother asked the complainant about what Salini told her. The complainant then told her grandmother about what the defendant did to her.
   • (xi) The matter was reported to Manuopo police station on the same day and investigation was eventually carried out.
   • (xii) The complainant was taken to Manuopo clinic on the same day and examined. Upon examination, the medical officer’s finding was that the complainant’s vagina was open as if it has been penetrated by an object.
4. Rape of a child is a serious offence under the 2016 Act, as it carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. However, I can exercise discretion and impose a much lesser sentence term. On the basis of Pige, Court of Appeal 2023, I will set the start point sentence at 8 years because this is an unlawful sexual intercourse with a child under 15 years. The victim here, like in Pige, was only 6 years old in November 2024. In Pige the victim was around the same group of 5/6 years.
5. I determine the following aggravating factors: -
   • (i) Breach of position of trust and pre-planning - I disagree with the crown’s submission. The defendant was drinking beer the night before and went around in the village, when he coincidently came across the victim, took her to a nearby kitchen house and raped her. It was not pre-planned. And on relationship, the defence disputed in submission that the defendant is not the grandfather of the victim. Because of this disagreement, agreed fact number 4 is misleading. Counsel worked against time and could have overlooked some facts. I deleted it from the summary of agreed facts filed on 26/03/2025.
   • (ii) The only remaining aggravating factors I will uphold from the crown’s submission are – very young age of the victim; age disparity; intoxication; weak and vulnerable and psychological harm and trauma. For these 5 serious aggravating factors combined, I will uplift the start point sentence by 5 more years. That comes to 13 years head sentence before mitigation. The defence submit that drunkenness is not an aggravating factor. I disagree because too often we see people get drunk causing a lot of headache in our villages. It seems that people drink beer just to gain courage to do nasty things. The Court must guard society against drunkenness leading to nuisance and crime. Hence drunkenness must become a serious aggravating factor. By making it a serious aggravation, the Court is denouncing the emerging behavioural attitude of drinking beer leading to nuisance and crime.
6. Then I will reduce the head sentence downwards due to the following mitigating factors: -
   • (i) Guilty plea – I award 30 per cent reduction. This is around 3.9 years or rounded to 4 years.
   • (ii) First time offender with no previous convictions – I give 1-year reduction.
   • (iii) Compensation – A worthy custom so I give 1-year deduction.
   • (iv) Time spent in custody, personal circumstances and cooperated well with the police – Defendant was arrested and detained 2 months ago. That means he was detained in January 2025. However, I decided to make a very small deduction of 1 month only, to cater for personal circumstances noting also that the defendant was a former police officer and cooperated well with the police resulting in the speedy conclusion of this matter. Hence, I will back date this sentence by 1 month and make it to start running from December 2024.
7. This Court has a duty to see that sentences it imposed gives out a powerful deterrent factor to prevent the commission of such offences in our villages. Offenders must receive harsher punishments to mark society’s outrage and denunciation against sexual abuse of women and girls. The main purpose of the punishment I give here is to condemn your action and to protect the public from the commission of such crimes by making it clear to you and others with similar impulses, that anyone who yields to this kind of crime will meet with severe punishments.
8. Mr. Napola, I convict you of rape based on your guilty plea and summary of agreed facts. I will impose a sentence term of 7 years. It will start to run from December 2024. Order accordingly.

THE COURT
JUSTICE JOHN A KENIAPISIA
PUISNE JUDGE