Labasa man convicted of robbery, given 30 days to appeal

A man who robbed two women in August 2023 has been convicted by the High Court in Labasa.

Sunia Bainivalu appeared before Justice Lee James Burney facing two counts of aggravated robbery.

The court heard that on August 20, 2023, Bainivalu, while armed with a knife, robbed Karolina Leba at Wailevu, Labasa around midnight and stole jewellery and a Samsung Galaxy A32 mobile phone.

A few hours later, he allegedly robbed Nusrat Ali, stealing two Samsung Galaxy A12 mobile phones.

He was also charged with indecently assaulting Leba, to which he pleaded not guilty.

The court heard that the stolen items belonging to both complainants were later recovered from a house in Qelewaqa on the same day, with Police assistance.

At the close of the prosecution case, defence counsel from the Legal Aid Commission, Kalesi Marama, submitted that her client had no case to answer, arguing there was no direct evidence linking him to the offences.

However, Justice Burney ruled that there was sufficient circumstantial evidence for the accused to be put on his defence on all three counts.

In his ruling, the judge noted the accused’s possession of a gold watch stolen from the first complainant and two mobile phones taken from the second complainant.

He found Bainivalu guilty of aggravated robbery and convicted him accordingly.

The accused has been granted 30 days to appeal to the Court of Appeal.