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\fs24\lang1033\langfe1033\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {\b\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid6384178\charrsid11479082 IN THE HIGH COURT OF FIJI
\par }{\b\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid11479082\charrsid11479082 AT LABASA}{\b\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid6384178\charrsid11479082 
\par }{\b\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid11479082\charrsid11479082 APPELLATE JURISDICTION}{\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid6384178\charrsid11479082 
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\par }\pard \qc \li0\ri0\nowidctlpar\wrapdefault\faauto\rin0\lin0\itap0\pararsid7234248 {\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid6384178\charrsid11479082 CRIMINAL APPEAL NO.}{\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid11479082\charrsid11479082  }{
\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid6384178\charrsid11479082 0033 OF 2001
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\par }\pard \qc \li0\ri0\nowidctlpar\wrapdefault\faauto\rin0\lin0\itap0\pararsid7234248 {\b\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid6384178\charrsid11479082 TEVITA BAI
\par }{\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid6384178\charrsid11479082 Appellant
\par }\pard \ql \li0\ri0\nowidctlpar\wrapdefault\faauto\rin0\lin0\itap0\pararsid7234248 {\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid6384178\charrsid11479082 
\par }\pard \qc \li0\ri0\nowidctlpar\wrapdefault\faauto\rin0\lin0\itap0\pararsid7234248 {\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid11479082\charrsid11479082 And}{\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid6384178\charrsid11479082 
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\par }\pard \qc \li0\ri0\nowidctlpar\wrapdefault\faauto\rin0\lin0\itap0\pararsid7234248 {\b\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid6384178\charrsid11479082 THE STATE
\par }{\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid6384178\charrsid11479082 Respondent
\par }\pard \ql \li0\ri0\nowidctlpar\wrapdefault\faauto\rin0\lin0\itap0\pararsid11479082 {\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid6384178\charrsid11479082 
\par Appellant in Person
\par Mr. J. Rabuku for the Respondent
\par }{\b\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid6384178\charrsid11479082 
\par }\pard \qc \li0\ri0\nowidctlpar\wrapdefault\faauto\rin0\lin0\itap0\pararsid7234248 {\b\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid6384178\charrsid11479082 JUDGMENT}{\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid6384178\charrsid11479082 
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\par }{\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid6384178\charrsid11479082 The appellant was convicted in the }{\b\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid6384178\charrsid11479082 Magistrate Court}{\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid6384178\charrsid11479082  }{
\b\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid6384178\charrsid11479082 Labasa}{\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid6384178\charrsid11479082  after he pleaded }{\b\i\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid6384178\charrsid11479082 \lquote guilty\rquote }{
\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid6384178\charrsid11479082  to an offence of }{\b\ul\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid6384178\charrsid11479082 Rape}{\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid6384178\charrsid11479082 .}{
\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid11479082  }{\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid6384178\charrsid11479082 Upon his conviction the}{\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid11479082  }{\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid6384178\charrsid11479082 
appellant was sentenced to }{\b\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid6384178\charrsid11479082 5 years}{\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid6384178\charrsid11479082  imprisonment being the maximum sentence that the Court could impose.
\par 
\par In sentencing the appellant the trial magistrate referred to a sentence he had passed earlier in the day for a similar offence where he said : 
\par 
\par }\pard \ql \li720\ri0\nowidctlpar\wrapdefault\faauto\rin0\lin720\itap0\pararsid11479082 {\b\i\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid7234248\charrsid11479082  }{\b\i\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid6384178\charrsid11479082 \lquote 
...... there are too many of these sorts of sexual offences being committed}{\b\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid6384178\charrsid11479082  }{\b\i\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid6384178\charrsid11479082 
especially against our women and children and it has to stop.\rquote }{\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid6384178\charrsid11479082 
\par }\pard \ql \li0\ri0\nowidctlpar\wrapdefault\faauto\rin0\lin0\itap0\pararsid11479082 {\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid6384178\charrsid11479082 
\par The appellant now appeals against the sentence on the ground that it is }{\b\i\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid6384178\charrsid11479082 \lquote harsh and excessive\rquote }{\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid6384178\charrsid11479082 
 and the appellant asserts that the complainant }{\b\i\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid6384178\charrsid11479082 \lquote was a willing partner.\rquote 
\par 
\par }{\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid6384178\charrsid11479082 At the hearing of the appeal State Counsel drew the court\rquote s attention to the provisions of }{\b\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid6384178\charrsid11479082 Section 309}{
\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid6384178\charrsid11479082  of the }{\b\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid6384178\charrsid11479082 \lquote CPC\rquote }{\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid6384178\charrsid11479082 
 which bars an appeal against the conviction }{\b\i\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid6384178\charrsid11479082 \lquote of an accused person who has pleaded guilty and has been convicted on such plea by a magistrates court.\rquote }{
\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid6384178\charrsid11479082 
\par 
\par However, as the appellant was unrepresented at trial and on appeal, the court considered it prudent to hear the appellant.
\par 
\par The appellant claimed that intercourse was consensual and that he had told the police this in his interview with them.}{\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid11479082  }{\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid6384178\charrsid11479082 
He also claimed that the complaint had been instigated by an aunt of the complainant whom the appellant had allegedly chased from the scene after the incident had occurred.
\par 
\par State Counsel on examining the relevant police docket was able to confirm that the complaint was laid by the victim shortly after the incident had occurred and that she had given a statement to the police, consistent with her being raped.}{
\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid11479082  }{\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid6384178\charrsid11479082 In addition, the appellant\rquote s police interview record indicates that, despite his claims 
to the contrary, the appellant had not told the police that intercourse was consensual.}{\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid11479082  }{\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid6384178\charrsid11479082 It was common ground however that the complainant
\rquote s young daughter had intruded on the scene during the course of the act and had immediately complained to her aunt that her mother was being }{\b\i\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid6384178\charrsid11479082 \lquote hassled by a Fijian man.
\rquote }{\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid6384178\charrsid11479082 
\par 
\par In light of the foregoing I am satisfied that the appellant was properly convicted on his }{\b\i\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid6384178\charrsid11479082 \lquote guilty\rquote }{\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid6384178\charrsid11479082 
 plea and the conviction is accordingly sustained.
\par 
\par As for sentence, State Counsel whilst asserting that a sentence of }{\b\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid6384178\charrsid11479082 5 years}{\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid6384178\charrsid11479082  is, in principle, neither }{
\b\i\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid6384178\charrsid11479082 \lquote harsh or excessive\rquote }{\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid6384178\charrsid11479082 
 for an offence which carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment, nevertheless, accepted that no consideration had been given by the trial magistrate for the mitigating effect of the appellant\rquote s guilty plea.
\par 
\par That an early admission of guilt is a strong mitigating factor has long been recognised by the Courts both here and abroad, more so, where t
he offence is of a sexual nature since the victim is spared the ordeal of having to relate highly personal and often embarrassing details about the event.
\par 
\par In the present case however the trial magistrate ignored this element of mitigation in preferring a deterrent sentence and thereby imposed the maximum sentence possible on a relatively young (23 years old) first offender.}{
\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid11479082  }{\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid6384178\charrsid11479082 I am satisfied that in doing so the trial magistrate erred.
\par 
\par The appeal against sentence is allowed and the sentence is accordingly reduced to three }{\b\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid6384178\charrsid11479082 (3) years}{\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid6384178\charrsid11479082 
 imprisonment with effect from the }{\b\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid6384178\charrsid11479082 13th day of August, 2001}{\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid6384178\charrsid11479082 .
\par 
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\par }{\b\ul\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid6384178\charrsid11479082 JUDGE
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\par }{\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid6384178\charrsid7234248 At Labasa,
\par 20th May, 2002.}{\lang2057\langfe1033\langnp2057\insrsid6384178\charrsid11479082 
\par }}