Home | Databases | WorldLII | Search | Feedback Supreme Court of Vanuatu

Public Prosecutor v Cyreal - Sentence [2006] VUSC 76; CRC 027 2006 (14 October 2006)

IN THE SUPREME COURT
OF THE REPUBLIC OF VANUATU
(Criminal Jurisdiction)

Criminal Case No.27 of 2006

PUBLIC PROSECUTOR

V

TREVA CYREAL

Coram: Justice C. N. Tuohy

Mr. Tevi for Public Prosecutor
Mr. Bartels for Defendant

Dates of Hearing: 11, 12, 13 & 14 October 2006
Date of Sentence: 14 October 2006

SENTENCE

1. Mr. Cyreal I am going to sentence you now on the charge which I found proven, the charge of threaten to kill.
   
2. Sadly in Vanuatu there are many disputes about land, there are many fences and many communities have got trouble about land. It is very important that those disputes are dealt with under the law in a peaceful way through the Court and through the justice system. If everyone involved in a land dispute in Vanuatu armed themselves with a rifle then it would not be long before there is real trouble in the community and peace and stability in the community was threatened. The first thing that would happen would be the other side would arms themselves with a rifle.
   
3. A rifle must never ever be used to threaten, let alone be used, on another human being whatever the provocation. I realize that there was provocation here, that these people were trespassing on your parents’ land and stealing fruit and that lot of people had done that by the sound of evidence that I heard. But nevertheless that does not justify arming yourself with a rifle, let alone threatening someone with it. If you had come before the Court with a month or two of this happening, I have no doubt you would have gone straight to prison on conviction but the fact that it is now 3 years ago and although this offence might have justified and does justify a term of imprisonment, I think it would be wrong for an immediate imprisonment given the time has passed and the fact that you have not been in any trouble before or since.
   
4. What I propose to do is to sentence you to a suspended sentence of imprisonment. I sentence you to 1 year imprisonment and the execution of that sentence is suspended for a period of 1 year. If during the next year you commit any offence then the sentence goes into effect. If however, you keep out of trouble for the next year, the sentence ends and will never be executed.
   

Dated AT PORT VILA on 14 October 2006

BY THE COURT

C. N. TUOHY

Judge