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State v Kuno [1988] PGNC 12; N673(S) (14 July 1988)

N673(S)

PAPUA NEW GUINEA
[NATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE]

THE STATE

-V-

ROCKY MASA KUNO

Lae: Woods J
14 July 1988

SENTENCE - Break and Enter of dwelling-house in the night and stealing - Plea of guilty.

Counsel:
Mr. I. Langford for the State
Mr. M. Komido for the Defendant

Facts:
The defendant ROCKY MASA KUNO pleaded guilty to the breaking and entering of the home of a MICHAEL BERRY in the early hours of the morning of the 9th December 1987 in the company of 2 other people and stealing a video recorder. The accused and his friends were armed with a shotgun and a bushknife. During the break and enter they disturbed the occupants of the house and during their escape one of the group was shot and died.

ON SENTENCE

WOODS J: Rocky Masa Kuno you have been found guilty of participating in a carefully planned break and enter of a private house in the early hours of the morning and stealing and attempting to steal some goods belonging to the occupants of the house. You say you were led into this by one of the other men but you still wanted to do it and you carefully waited up till the early hours of the morning till you all thought it was the best time to break and enter the house.

You had weapons between you and that suggests you would use them if anyone tried to stop you. As it was one of your group was shot and died.

People should be safe in their houses at night and not live in fear of criminals like you. Instead you broke into this house and thereby frightened the occupants of this house namely a man and his wife and young child and made them feel threatened in what they thought was the security of their own home. This is why the punishment laid down by Parliament in the Criminal Code Section 395(2) for the break and enter of a dwelling house at night with criminal intent is imprisonment for life.

However the Court has a discretion with this punishment and whilst we feel that if you show you want to do this sort of thing you cannot be trusted to be free in the community we must consider an appropriate penalty less than life imprisonment. For threatening the security of people in their own home I feel that an appropriate punishment is a term of 5 or 6 years imprisonment. However, you have come to his court and told the truth and pleaded guilty so I will be lenient on you. I therefore sentence you to 3 years imprisonment with hard labour. I note that have been in remand custody since the middle of December so I will allow for 7 months custody and this means you have 2 years 5 months imprisonment to serve.

Lawyer for the State: The Public Prosecutor.
Lawyer for the Defendant: The Public Solicitor.