Year 13 student, co-accused ordered to rehabilitation for theft

A 19-year-old student and his co-accused have assured the Nadi Magistrate Court they will not reoffend after pleading guilty to a theft charge.

Netani Raviya, 19, and Semi Dakai, 25, appeared before Magistrate Mareta Tikosuva, each charged with one count of theft.

Raviya told the court he would be attending Year 13 this year at a school in Tailevu and asked for forgiveness, assuring the magistrate he would not reoffend.

Dakai, a construction worker, also sought leniency and gave similar assurances to the court.

The court heard that the offence was committed at a Shop N Save supermarket in Nadi in January last year.

Both accused waived their right to legal representation, confirmed they had received full disclosures and pleaded guilty of their own free will.

In sentencing, the court took into account their guilty pleas, mitigation submissions and the fact that they are first offenders.

Magistrate Tikosuva noted that the maximum penalty for theft carries a sentence of up to 10 years’ imprisonment.

The two were sentenced to three months’ rehabilitation and were each ordered to sign a $300 bail bond.