By PETER MIVA
SUSPENSION of jail sentences is not a “soft option” or is an exercise in leniency but an order made in the interest of the society.
National Court judge Justice Sao Gabi said this when sentencing an 18-year-old juvenile to a suspended term for armed robbery and rape yesterday.
He said the suspension of sentences was designed to prevent convicts from re-offending.
The court heard that the prisoner pleaded guilty to robbing a mother and her daughter at their Three Mile home in Lae and aided one of his four accomplices to rape the 13-year-old daughter on Sept 2, 2004.
The court heard that at around 6.30pm that day, the prisoner and his accomplices, who were armed with three home-made guns, broke down the door of the victims’ house, held them up and removed their TV.
The court heard that the prisoner, who was armed with a home-made gun, pointed it at the mother and the daughter while one of the accomplices removed the daughter’s clothes and raped her.
The court heard that the prisoner, who was a first time offender, expressed remorse.
Justice Gabi, after considering a pre-sentence report recommending non-custodial punishment, sentenced the prisoner to 10 years for armed robbery and eight years for rape respectively, to be served concurrently.
“I accept the suggestion in the pre-sentence report that the prisoner must be rehabilitated so as to reintegrate him back into society,” Justice Gabi told the court.
He then deducted the time the juvenile had already served while on remand and suspended the rest for a five-year probation with strict conditions.