LEONE Lesumailepanoni, convicted of robbing the Alison Supermarket at Laucala Beach Estate outside Suva in 2024, has been sentenced to 14 years and 10 months in jail.
Justice Thushara Rajasinghe found Lesumailepanoni, 45, guilty on December 22 last year for three counts of aggravated robbery.
But he has been acquitted of one count of the same offence.
Records show that on December 2, 2024, he and three others robbed a taxi driven by a Farid Khan, tied his hands and legs and placed him behind the back passenger seat after covering his eyes with a piece of cloth and covering his head with a bag.
They then drove the taxi to Alison Supermarket, stormed into it with cane knives and iron rods and robbed $20,000 and a mobile phone from Sushmita Narayan, who was shopping at the supermarket with her parents.
They also robbed the Supermarket of $1650.75 before fleeing the scene in the stolen vehicle.
A trainee cashier at the supermarket testified outlining how the attackers threatened her with a cane knife, demanding that she open the register or be whacked with it.
The terrified young trainee wet herself in fear for her life.
Lesumailepanoni will serve 11 years and 10 months before being considered for parole.
