The State v Spakman Sepi Komine

• Jurisdiction: Papua New Guinea
• Judge: Sawong J
• Judgment Date: 10 June 1998
• Citation: (1998) N1813
• Court: National Court
• Year: 1998
• Judgement Number: N1813

National Court: Sawong J

Judgment Delivered: 10 June 1998

N1813

PAPUA NEW GUINEA

(In the National Court of Justice)

CR No. 1218 of 1997

THE STATE

V

SPAKMAN SEPI KOMINE

GOROKA: SAWONG J

1998: 9, 10 June

Criminal Law - sentence - armed robbery of motor vehicle - Plea of guilty - appropriate sentence - robbery is a serious crime - violence and prevalence - immediate punitive and deterrent custodial sentence is appropriate - parity of sentence -

Cases cited.

Gimble v The State [1988 - 89] PNGLR 271

Yamogo Yoanes v The State, Unreported Judgement of Supreme Court,

dated 27 November 1997.

Counsels:

C. Ashton-Lewis, for the State

J. Hasu, for the Accused.

10 June 1998.

SAWONG J: The accused pleaded guilty to a charge of armed robbery, an offence contrary to s. 386 (2) (D) of the Criminal Code. You were convicted and I adjourned sentencing you to today.

The facts of the case are as follows.

On evening of 25 April 1997, you were at your village, when some five other young men approached you. They told you of a plan to go to the Highway and set up a road block to rob people travelling on the said highway. And so you were persuaded to accompany them and all six of you then went to the said highway and hid yourselves near the Bena Bridge waiting for oncoming vehicles. At that time the six of your were acting together and in each others company. The evidence shows that between the six of you, you were carrying four (4) shotguns and two knives. While you were hiding and waiting, a white mazda truck driven by Kumono Mogia and owned by Bormal Tinemau, was seen approaching the place where you and your friends were hiding. The people in the truck were driving to Madang to pay a bride price. They were then carrying three pigs, some cash and other personal properties. All those properties were valued at K2,540.00. When the people in the truck approached your hiding place, you and your friends then came out of your hiding place and block the road and forced the vehicle to stop. When the vehicle stopped, 5 of your friends jumped onto the back of the truck, whilst you went into the front cabin of the said vehicle. Once you were inside, you used a knife to force the driver of the said truck to leave the highway and onto a village road. As you were travelling, you and the driver struggled, and during the course of the struggle, the vehicle left the road and overturned. You were apprehended then and there, whilst the rest of your friends escaped.

I have listened and considered carefully all the matters which you told me yesterday. I note your own personal history, that you are a married man with a family, that you have gardens and so on. I also note that you said you were sorry for what you had done. You also asked me to put you on a probation. As I have said, I also note what you said about...