DPP Appeals Lenient Rape Sentence Handed In Lautoka High Court
The State is appealing the sentence on the grounds that the sentence is well below the tariff of 11 to 20 years established in the Supreme Court decision of State v Gordon Aitcheson in 2018 and is manifestly lenient.
Thursday 03 December 2020 | 16:56
The Director of Public Prosecutions, Christopher Pryde, has filed an appeal against the sentence handed down to Waisake Ravasua by the Lautoka High Court on 4 November 2020.
Waisake Ravasua was convicted and sentenced to 7 years imprisonment with a non-parole period of 5 years imprisonment for raping an 11-year old girl on 15 August 2017.
The State is appealing the sentence on the grounds that the sentence is well below the tariff of 11 to 20 years established in the Supreme Court decision of State v Gordon Aitcheson in 2018 and is manifestly lenient.
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Mr Pryde said, “It is important that the tariff established by the Supreme Court for child rapists is respected and leniency should be given only in the rarest of cases, if ever. This was a horrendous act which left a child severely traumatised and which deserves a punishment commensurate with the crime and the established tariff so as to deter other would-be rapists and properly reflect the community’s outrage.”
The Notice of Appeal against the sentence was filed in the Court of Appeal today (03.12.20)
