A man currently serving a 10-year sentence of a 14-year term for stealing cash and various items valued at $4,329 has been granted the right to appeal his sentence.
Inoke Gadre faced charges of two counts of aggravated burglary and two counts of theft for unlawfully entering the property of Mereseini Navela on June 12, 2017. He also trespassed at the residence of Faraaz Khailil, the director of United Pacific (Fiji) Ltd, on July 3, 2015.
Justice Chandana Prematilaka’s ruling on August 6 highlighted that there was no justification for the considerable delay in sentencing Gadre. He noted that the trial judge did not address the delay caused by the court in determining a timely response in the final sentencing calculations.
The ruling mentioned that while the trial judge made the sentences for aggravated burglary and theft consecutive, section 22 of the Sentencing and Penalties Act permits a judge to impose a more severe sentence on habitual offenders. It emphasized that it is up to the full Court to assess whether the imposed sentence is excessive or disproportionate given all circumstances.
Justice Prematilaka also stated that the totality principle should be considered when imposing a sentence for multiple offenses, suggesting that the full Court should take these factors into account when determining an appropriate sentence for Gadre.