Supreme Court slashes sentence over 'double counting' errors

The Supreme Court of Fiji has dismissed a conviction appeal while reducing an 18-year prison sentence to 14 years, issuing a sharp critique of lower court sentencing methods.

Ateshwar Prasad had sought leave to appeal against both his convictions and sentence for the 2018 abduction, wrongful confinement, sexual assault and rape of a 12-year-old girl in Navua.

Justices Anthony Gates, Lowell Goddard and Geoffrey Nettle unanimously upheld the convictions, finding that the girl’s credible testimony and medical evidence sufficiently established penetration.

However, they criticised the original sentencing calculation.

Writing for the majority, Justice Goddard said the trial judge had engaged in “double counting” by selecting an elevated starting point of 12 years based on aggravating factors, then adding another six years for those same factors.

Justice Nettle expanded on the ruling, highlighting systemic flaws in Fiji’s two-part sentencing framework, warning that these calculation errors produce disproportionately heavy penalties:

"One of the inherent problems with the two-part sentencing process currently applied in Fiji is that it tends towards excessive sentences. This case illustrates the point," Justice Nettle said.

"The problem comes about as the result of sentencing judges selecting a starting point or base sentence greater than the lowest point in the applicable sentencing range and then adding extra punishment for identified aggravating factors without giving full credit for so much of the starting point or base sentence as consists of punishment for aggregating factors."

He warned that judges routinely selected starting points above the minimum threshold of a sentencing tariff and added further punishment without giving full credit for the aggravating factors already considered. He said this made the process prone to excessive penalties.

Following the reduction, Prasad’s sentence stands at 14 years’ imprisonment, with a non-parole period of nine years.

Prasad has already served seven years and six months in custody, including time on remand and after conviction. His earliest possible release date is April 29, 2028.