BY ROMINAH FAKA
The Magistrate court has sentenced a man to one year imprisonment for house break-in and theft.
The sentence was delivered on October 30 by Principal Magistrate Dalcy B Oligari.
Junior Jack Haikeu pleaded guilty on August 26 this year.
In delivering sentence, court highlighted the aggravating factors – the value of the goods stolen was about $65,800, resulting in financial loss to the victim.
Secondly the prevalence of this kind of offending. Court have seen an increase in this kind of offending which requires serious attention and action.
Thirdly – repeated offending. The accused was recently convicted of a similar charge against the same complainant, some days after the offending on April 22, 2024. Shows accused had no respect for other people’s property.
Fourthly, the general ransacking of the complainant’s house and finally, the pre-planning prior to the offending.
Court also considered the mitigating factors – early guilty plea which demonstrated acceptance for his wrongs, Haikeu’s remorse for what he did, the early guilty plea saved court’s time and other resources to proceed with a trial, his cooperation with police during investigation and his personal circumstances.
On April 22, 2024 at around 8am, the complainant arrived at his residence at Tasahe B area and noticed that his gate was slightly opened. He went inside his house and found it to be in a mess.
Later, he found out that his properties, five laptops, two external drives, an electrical drill, a blender machine, and a telescope were missing. These properties were worth $65,800.
The complainant checked around his house to find access into the house, and at the main door, he found scratches from a sharp object at the door frame that damaged the lock. He then informed his neighbour to look after his house in his absence.
The complainant then informed a police officer who also resided in the same area at Tasahe B, and there the case was filed against Haikeu at White River Police Station.
He was later arrested by Police on 7th of
Haikeu was arrested on May 7, 2024, and formally charged.
That same day Haikeu participated in a record of interview under caution with police, and he admitted to breaking into the complainant’s house.
There was no recovery of the missing items from Haikeu.
Herrick Lautalo acted for the Prosecution and Lazarus Waroka for Haikeu.
