A sentence delivered by a magistrate involving a man charged with five counts of various offences has been quashed and substituted with a lesser jail term.
Lasaro Tuberi was charged with a count each of: failure to comply with an order; going equipped for theft; burglary; theft and serious assault.
In June of 2020, Tuberi breached curfew hours and at the time had stolen $3000. On the same day he resisted police arrest.
On January 18 this year, he was sentenced to serve one year of a 33-month jail term.
Tuberi then appealed against his conviction and sentence before Justice Pita Bulamainaivalu last week.
For his conviction, he claimed the magistrate had failed to analyse and discuss the chain of custody of the stolen items to establish the principle of recent possession of the stolen property.
For his sentence, Tuberi claimed he should have been issued a 29-month sentence.
In his ruling, Justice Bulamainaivalu quashed and substituted the sentence imposed by the magistrate to 29 months with a non-parole period of one-year.
However, Tuberi’s appeal against conviction was dismissed.
He has 30 days to appeal.
