Court corrects sentencing error after six months overlooked
High Court quashes 24-month sentence and imposes 18 months with six-month non-parole period.
Friday 14 August 2026 | 15:30
A sentencing error has been corrected by the High Court in Labasa after it found that a Taveuni man convicted of aggravated robbery had spent six months in custody that was not considered during his original sentencing.
Saimone Banuve appeared before Justice Lee James Burney to appeal the sentence imposed by the Labasa Magistrate Court.
He was represented by Legal Aid Commission lawyer Iosefo Rusaqoli.
Related stories
Mr Rusaqoli argued that the time his client spent on remand pending the disposal of his case should have been taken into account.
Banuve was sentenced on July 21, 2025, to 24 months’ imprisonment with a non-parole period of 12 months.
The High Court heard that the Resident Magistrate was not made aware that, as long ago as 2019, Banuve had spent six months in custody pending the disposal of the matter.
Justice Burney allowed the appeal against sentence and quashed the sentence imposed on July 21, 2025.
Banuve was instead sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment with a non-parole period of six months.
