Lawrence Hindemba v The State

• Jurisdiction: Papua New Guinea
• Citation: (1998) SC593
• Date: 27 October 1998
• Court: Supreme Court
• Year: 1998

Supreme Court: Woods J, Injia J, Sawong J

Judgment Delivered: 27 October 1998

1 Criminal law—Appeal against sentence—Prisoner appeal—Appeal against 10 year sentence for rape—Power of Supreme Court to increase sentence—Sentence increased to 15 years—Supreme Court Act (Ch37) s23(4), Criminal Code (Ch262) s347

2 R v Ettridge [1909] 2 KB 24, Harris v R (1953–54) 90 CLR 652, Acting Public Prosecutor v Konis Haha [1981] PNGLR 205, John Aubuku v The State [1987] PNGLR 267, The State v Michael Amuna Koupa [1987] PNGLR 208, The State v Peter Kaudik [1987] PNGLR 201, The State v Thomas Waim [1995] PNGLR 187 and Sinclair Matagal v The State (1988) (Unnumbered and Unreported Judgment SCRA No 95 of 1996 dated 4 June 1998) referred to

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By the Court: On 27 October 1998, we heard this appeal against sentence only and dismissed the appeal, quashed the sentence of 10 years for rape imposed by the National Court and increased the sentence to 15 years. Due to time limitations we have on circuit, we gave brief reasons then and indicated we would give full reasons later. This we now do.

On 27 October 1998, our brief reasons were:

"The appellant appeals against the sentence of ten (10) years imposed for the rape of a small ten (10) year old school girl on 16 April 1997. The appellant grabbed the victim as she was returning from school, carried her into the nearby bush, threatened her with a pocket knife, refused to let the victim go when the victim's sister intervened to free her and had sexual intercourse with the victim by force. During the encounter the victim was in immense pain and her vagina bled. The doctor's report confirmed forced sexual intercourse took place with visible injuries to her vagina.

"The appellant pleaded guilty to the charge before the trial judge. The trial judge took into account the seriousness of the offence and the presence of special aggravating factors, in particular the fact that the victim was very young and a weapon was used to threaten her and force was used. These factors were balanced against two mitigating factors namely, the appellant's guilty plea and his record of no prior conviction. The trial judge then imposed a sentence of 10 years.

"The appellant has now asked us to reduce the sentence on the basis of his first offender status, his guilty plea, his co–operation with the police, and the fact that the trial judge imposed lesser sentences in other previous similar cases. The State Prosecutor submits that the sentence in the circumstances was so inordinately low that the appellant's appeal should not only be dismissed but that the sentence should be increased to 15 years imprisonment.

"The offence of rape under s347 of the Criminal Code (Ch262) is a very serious offence for which the maximum punishment is life imprisonment. The Supreme Court in John Aubuku v The State [1987] PNGLR 267 stated that the offence of rape should be visited with a strong deterrent and punitive sentence in the form a custodial sentence. In a case where a woman or girl is abducted, taken captive and raped, the Supreme Court suggested a starting...