CR No. 115 OF 2008;

• Jurisdiction: Papua New Guinea
• Citation: (2008) N3521
• Date: 03 October 2008
• Court: National Court
• Year: 2008

Full Title: CR No. 115 OF 2008;

National Court: Paliau, AJ

Judgment Delivered: 3 October 2008

CRIMINAL LAW – Sentencing – Dishonestly applied to own use property belonging to another – Charge of – Guilty Plea – Criminal Code s383 A (1)(a).

Cases cited:

The State v David Kaki; CR No 604 (4th September 2008); Brian Kindi Lawi v The State [1987] PNGLR 183; The State v Paroa Kaia (1995) N1401; The State v Bygonnes Tuse Nae (1996) N1474; Doreen Liprin v The State (2001) PNGLR 6; The State v Dobi Ao (No 2) [2002] PNGLR 55; The State v Gibson Haulai (2004) N2555; Wellington Belawa v The State [1988–89] PNGLR 496; The State v Eric Emmanuel Vele [2002] PNGLR 74; The State v Louise Paraka (2002) N2317; The State v Makeu Kig (2001) N2177

1. PALIAU, AJ.: The accused pleaded guilty to one count of dishonestly applying to her own use and the use of another the sum of K 99, 600.53. The monies belonged to Badili Hardware Limited.

2. At the time of misappropriation, the accused was a cashier with Badili Hardware Limited. She misappropriated these monies between 15th June 2005 and 4th February 2006.

3. The issue for determination is what would be the appropriate penalty to be imposed on the prisoner?

Antecedent Report

4. The prisoner has no prior convictions.

Allocutus

5. The prisoner apologized to the Court and her employer Badili Hardware Limited. She expressed remorse and stated that she would have not taken the money had it not been for her supervisor who persuaded her to take it.

She asked the Court to be lenient as she has five (5) children and her husband is also unemployed. A custodial sentence will definitely shatter the welfare of her family.

Pre-Sentence Report and Means Assessment Report

6. The Pre-Sentence Report assessed the prisoner as not a danger to the...