A father and son will be spending more than three months in prison for assaulting a security officer in Labasa.

Ulaiasi Tine, 56, and Sakiusa Matana, 22, of Wailevu, Labasa were charged for repeatedly punching the security officer after they were denied entry at the Charan Jeath Singh Supermarket for not wearing their masks.

Tine was sentenced to 23 weeks imprisonment while Matana was sentenced to 15 weeks by the Magistrate Court in Labasa on Monday.

Labasa police prosecutor Sergeant Vignesh Prasad said: “Apart from liquor related and kava gathering breaches, this was the first such case where a person had assaulted a security guard.”

Labasa Town Council Special Administrator, Doreen Robinson said this was an eye-opening incident for people who continued to treat COVID restrictions lightly.

Ms Robinson said it was unfortunate that some people continued to have a poor mentality on why these rules were implemented in the first place.

“We all have a responsibility to try and ensure that the areas we live, visit and earn an income from are safe from the virus, and following these simple COVID rules were paramount to achieving this,” she said.

Meanwhile, Labasa Chamber of Commerce and Industries president, Satish Kumar labelled the incident as “intolerable”.

Mr Kumar supported the decision of the court to send a strong message on the need for people to follow this protocol or face the consequence.

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