A man who broke into a home and stole items while the family slept, was jailed for eight years by the High Court in Suva yesterday.

Viliame Gukisuva, 42, was sentenced by Justice Vinsent Perera after being convicted for aggravated burglary and theft.

His non-parole period is set at five years.

On April 16, 2019, Gukisuva with another accomplice entered the house of the complainant at around 3am.

The occupants of the house were asleep when Gukisuva and his accomplice stole Samsung mobile phones, tablet, wrist watch, cash and a school bag worth $2198.

Justice Perera said the offender broke into the house while the family member were inside in the security of their home.

He said the offender and the complainant were from the same area. The complainant woke up to find the offender inside her bedroom.

The judge told Gukisuva that his conduct left the complainant with a sense of violation and insecurity and that the family had to live with it now.

The court also heard that while committing the offences, Gukisuva and his accomplice damaged the living room door of the complainant’s house.

Justice Perera also highlighted that the offender had 14 previous convictions, eight being property related offences.

However, they were committed 10 years before this case.

The prosecution had made an application for the offender to be labelled as a habitual offender. However, Justice Perera said he was not persuaded that the offender should be regarded as a threat to the community as he had maintained a clean record for 10 years.

Justice Perera also noted that Gukisuva was in remand for a period of one year, three months and 24 days.

He said the period spent in remand was regarded as the time of the sentence served.

The remaining period for Gukisuva to serve is six years, eight months and six days with a non-parole period of three years, eight months and six days.

Edited by Caroline Ratucadra

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