- Woman escapes possible jail term
- Male 23, jailed for public disorder
- ‘Stealing is a result of laziness”
Woman escapes possible jail term
A WOMAN who stole $10,000 from her employer in retaliation for the bad, shameful and demeaning words uttered to her by her employer has escaped jail yesterday.
This was after the 12 months jail term imposed on Dorothy Maelanga was fully suspended for 12 months on condition that she will not commit any further offence during the operational period.
She was also ordered to pay compensation of $2,000 to the complainant within three days.
Principal Magistrate Augustine Aulanga said the reason for suspending the sentence was that he felt it was not right for Maelanga, who is of good character, to be held accountable with a jail sentence for an offence that she had easily admitted and vindicated it by making genuine attempts to return the stolen money only to be refused by the complainant.
In his sentencing remarks, Aulanga said the accused committed the crime in retaliation for the bad and embarrassing words uttered to her in the presence of others by her employer.
“Her employer is of a foreign country and has graciously permitted by the authority to operate a business here in Honiara,” Aulanga said.
He added that to treat local employees as mere objects by throwing at them bad, disrespectful, demeaning, and shameful words are equally unacceptable.
“In some countries, this instance could result in brutal or even fatal retaliation by disgruntled employees.
“I make this comment not to condone this offending but this incident could have been easily avoided if the complainant had taken a sensible and appropriate approach towards the accused.
“Despite that claimed grievance, the accused should know that the money did not belong to her and to take it home without the consent of her employer is a crime.
“Resorting to self-help or criminal means is a way of expressing frustrations against an employer is not the right way of dispute that people must learn to think first before doing actions because quite often it will lead to committing a crime,” Aulanga further added.
Maelanga was sentenced after pleading guilty to one count of larceny by a servant, an offence that carries a maximum penalty of 14 years imprisonment.
This was in relation to an incident on 4 June 2019 when she was working at a Kaibar shop in Honiara.
She worked as a waitress and at times a cleaner or a cashier.
On the day of the incident, she was given $10,000 by her employer to deposit at the Bank of South Pacific (BSP).
Maelanga did go and deposited the money.
She later returned to the shop and handed the deposit slip to the complainant but the complainant told her she should have deposited the money at ANZ bank.
The complainant then continued to utter bad and demeaning words to the accused despite giving the accused the wrong instruction in the first place.
She further threatened to terminate the accused from work because of the wrong deposit and then asked her to return to the bank to withdraw the money.
Maelanga went and withdrew the money but because she was very embarrassed and ashamed by the bad words uttered to her, she took the money and escaped.
Police seized and confiscated $8,000 from the accused when she was remanded at Rove Correctional Centre.
However, only $6,000 was disclosed and returned to the complainant by the police on 8 August 2019.
The court heard that the amount of $2,000 had gone missing under the custody of the police.
Maelanga on four separate occasions tried to return the other $2,000 of the $10,000 to the complainant but the complainant refused and preferred the court to deal with the matter.
Her lawyer in court during mitigation revealed that she still kept the $2,000 and had never misappropriated it.
She had asked the court through her lawyer Steven Weago of Public Solicitor’s Office for any sentence that should allow her or facilitate the return of the money to the complainant.
Weago also told the court his client did not plan the theft but only did so as retaliation or a momentary reaction to the bad and demeaning words uttered to her by the accused in the presence of others inside their workplace.
Mr. Aulanga said he understands that Maelanga could have handed the money to the police but since there was a mishandling of money by police, she preferred to personally give the money to the complainant.
After imposing the sentence and order for compensation, Mr Aulanga further ordered that the prosecutor in this matter accompany Maelanga for the repayment of that money to the complainant.
If she breached the order, she is to be arrested and brought to the court for further dealings.
Police Prosecutor Iete Tebakota appeared for the Crown.
Male 23, jailed for public disorder
A MAN who confesses to a number of criminal offences that he committed at a village in Ngela, Central Islands Province last year has been sentenced to 14 months in jail.
Nickson Parahu, 23, was sentenced after pleading guilty to charges of common nuisance, malicious damage, arson, and intimidation.
He was also charged with going armed in public, using abusive words and criminal trespass but those charges were dropped after a plea bargain was made with the prosecution.
Principal Magistrate Felix Hollison said he hopes this sentence will teach Parahu a good lesson and for him to change for the better after the completion of this sentence in prison as he still has high rehabilitative prospects.
“Most of these offences are fairly serious offences while arson is the most serious with a maximum penalty of life imprisonment,” Mr. Hollison said.
Mr. Hollison added the use of petrol to set fire could have attracted further damages had the fire continued to burn the whole house which he considered as an aggravation.
“The fire if not contained could have dangerously fuelled by petrol.”
He said he also shared and endorsed the same sentiments echoed in a past case, Randy v Regina that a person should always respect another person’s properties regardless of whether the properties are big or small, valuable, expensive, or less expensive or of whatever nature, description and value.
“The constitutional rights such as property rights must always be protected and respected and this requires a person to also treat others with dignity.
“My judicial role, inter alia, is to issue a sentence or sentences that will send a message of deterrence to the members of the public and potential offenders not to commit such offences.
“That whoever wishes to commit such offences should expect severe consequences,” Mr. Hollison further added.
The incidents happened at Bola Village in Ngela on 12 October 2019.
At about 1 am on that day the accused and others were drinking beers whilst playing music using a JBL portable speaker.
The noise from the music caused annoyance to complainant 1 and his family including other people in the village.
The complainant approached the accused and the boys to stop what they are doing but they refused to listen to him.
Parahu that same day broke a water pipe owned by complainant 1.
He also poured mixed petrol and set fire to part of the building used by complainant 1 and his family as a storehouse and dining kitchen.
He further intimidated a second complainant.
The matter was reported to police in Tulagi, Ngela which resulted in his charge.
Mr. Hollison had imposed two months jail term for the common nuisance charge, four months for the malicious damage, six months for intimidation and 14 months for the arson charge.
All sentences were ordered to run concurrently which means Parahu will be serving a total of 14 months jail term.
The six months Parahu spent in custody was also taken into account meaning his sentence was backdated to commence on 15 October 2019.
Public Solicitor’s lawyer Michael Fagani represented Parahu while Public Prosecutor Steward Tonowane appeared for the Crown.
‘Stealing is a result of laziness”
STEALING of money or anything from an employer is evil and punishable by law, says a Honiara Magistrate.
Principal Magistrate Augustine Aulanga made this bench remark when imposing a sentence on a woman who stole $10,000 from her employer as retaliation for the “shameful and demeaning words” uttered to her by her employer.
“Common sense tells us that what you steal does not belong to you,” Mr. Aulanga said.
“Be it from a large corporation, a bank, or a small grocery shop, it is simply a wrong and immoral thing to do,” he added.
He said the property belongs to someone else and that should ring a bell not to take it without the consent of the owner.
“Those who steal are lazy and want to get quick money from the sweat of others through criminal means.
“It was described in one of the High Court cases as it “stinks in the eyes of the community.”
Aulanga said he made this comment in obiter (that which is said in passing) since theft-related offences are common in the Solomon Islands and therefore there is a legitimate public expectation for the Court to denounce this offence with a deterrence sentence.
In this case, a 12-month imprisonment term that was imposed was fully suspended for 12 months.
The court also ordered her to pay a compensation of $2,000 to the complainant.
