The State v Henry Nandiro (No 2) (2004) N2668

• Jurisdiction: Papua New Guinea
• Citation: (2004) N2668
• Date: 22 June 2004
• Court: National Court
• Year: 2004

Full Title: The State v Henry Nandiro (No 2) (2004) N2668

National Court: Kandakasi J

Judgment Delivered: 22 June 2004

1 CRIMINAL LAW—Sentence—Armed gang rape of 14 year old girl—Conviction after trial—No prior conviction—Physical injuries to victim—Prevalence of offence—Meaning of recent amendments to penalty provision—Aggravated rape sentence start at 15 years—Sentence to reflect recent legislative changes—Sentence of 20 years imposed—Criminal Code s347(1).

2 The State v Donald Angavia (No 2) (2004) N2590, The State v Luke Sitban (No 2) (2004) N2566, John Aubuku v The State [1987] PNGLR 267, Thomas Waim v The State (1997) SC519, Lawrence Hindemba v The State (1998) SC593, The State v Eddie Peter (No 2) (2001) N2297, Mary Bomai Michael v The State (2004) SC737, The State v Kunija Osake (2003) N2380, Ian Napoleon Setep v The State (2001) SC666, Public Prosecutor v Don Hale (1998) SC564, The State v Irox Winston [2003] PNGLR 331, The State v Eki Kondi (No 2) (2004) N2543, The State v Flotyme Sina (No 2) (2004) N2541 referred to

Decision On Sentence

___________________________

Kandakasi J: Yesterday, the Court found you guilty and convicted you on one charge of rape of a then 14 year old girl on 30 March 2001 contrary to s347 of the Criminal Code.

After your conviction, the Court asked you to address it on your sentence. You said sorry for raping the victim and said you will go and marry the victim at the end of serving your sentence.

The relevant facts are fully set out in the decision on verdict delivered yesterday. Therefore, it is not necessary to restate them except to note the few relevant ones for the purposes of determining an appropriate sentence for you. Firstly, the victim was 14 years old at the time of your offence. You were married and therefore an adult. Hence, there was a huge age difference.

Secondly, you were in the company of three other boys or men. Of these men, two of you raped the victim. You and your group of man armed yourself with a bush knife. You were the one who carried and used the bush knife against the victim.

Thirdly, the victim was with a friend and they were on their way to a dance in a village. They took a ride in your canoe for you to take them to the place where the dance was held. Instead of taking them to the dance place, you took them away to a different place far away in the middle of the night. You kept her and her friend late into the night at about 12:00 midnight. You therefore adducted the victim when you took her to a destination she did not intend to go at the first place.

Fourthly, at the time of forcefully having sexual intercourse with the victim, you and you accomplish handled the victim roughly. Consequently, she sustained physical injuries to her vagina resulting in continuous bleeding even for more than a day after the rape on her.

Finally, you have not paid the victim and her relatives any compensation and have...