The State v Steward Pariwan

• Jurisdiction: Papua New Guinea
• Judge: Sawong J
• Judgment Date: 05 March 1999
• Citation: (1999) N1834
• Court: National Court
• Year: 1999
• Judgement Number: N1834

National Court: Sawong J

Judgment Delivered: 5 March 1999

N1834

PAPUA NEW GUINEA

[In the National Court of Justice ]

CR 23 OF 1999

THE STATE

-V-

STEWARD PARIWAN

WEWAK : SAWONG J.

1999 : 2, 5 MARCH

CRIMINAL LAW - Sentence - Armed Robbery by a gang - Robbery of a Trade Store at

night - victim shot - suffers permanent - injuries - Custodial Sentence

- 11 years IHL appropriate.

Mr. Ruarri for the State.

Mr. Tusais for the Accused.

5 March 1999

SAWONG J. You pleaded guilty that you on 31 July 1997 at Wewak, stole from one Matthew Kaugugin and others with actual violence the sum of K1,800-00 in cash the property of Hinabak Trade Store and that at that time you were in the company of 7 others.

FACTS:

The short facts which you pleaded guilty and which I accepted were these. On the evening at about 7:15pm on 31 July 1997, you and 7 other men who were armed with two shotguns, bush knives and grass knives rushed into the Hinabak Trade Store in Wewak. Using those weapons, you then held up the Manager and other employees of the said store. One of your gang members fought with the Manager one Matthew Kaugugin, and during the course of the fight another of your accomplices shot Mr. Kaugugin on his face with a gun injuring him. After that you and your accomplices took about K1,800 in cash from the cash register and escaped from the scene.

THE PRISONER:

You are aged about 22 years old. You have a sister who is still in school. You completed grade 8 after which you were transferred to go and attend a High School in Goroka. Unfortunately, this did not eventuated as the people you were going to live with moved out of Goroka.

When I administered the allocutus to you, you said you were sorry for committing this crime. You also told me why you committed it - you committed it to get some money to pay for your school fees to attend a Vocational Centre. You told me your parents are both alive but unemployed and you asked for the Court’s leniency.

You also told the court that you are a youthful offender and asked the Court either to impose a short custodial sentence or impose a wholly suspended sentence.

Armed robbery in any form is a very serious crime. It is also a crime of violence and it is becoming so prevalent in our country. The crime attracts a maximum sentence life imprisonment. The courts have warned over many years now that the courts will not hesitate to impose higher sentences in appropriate cases.

Your lawyer has referred me to the case of Gimble v The State. In that case the Supreme Court categorised various different kinds of robberies. It said there are about 4 different categories, and these are robbery of victims in their homes, robbery of a bank, robbery of trade store or vehicle, and the less serious is a street robbery. It then set out various tariffs against each of these categories. It suggested that in case like your case, on a plea of guilty without any further aggravating factor(s) the starting point should be less than 5 years imprisonment. If, however any aggravating factor is present then the sentence should be more than the suggested tariff. I wish to make several observations in regard to that decision.

The first is that the decision was made in 1988, more than 10 years ago.

Secondly, with...