Ioane Filemu was sentenced to one year and ten months imprisonment on three charges of burglary and two counts of theft. Justice Leiataualesa Daryl Michael Clarke handed down sentencing in this case.
According to the Prosecution Consolidated Summary of Facts, on the 16th of October 2022, the defendant unlawfully entered a home in Letogo and stole a Samsung A21 phone valued at $1,256.00. The phone was recovered, and in November, Filemu pleaded guilty to the charge, and bail was granted pending sentence. In December, while on bail, Filemu committed his second burglary.
On this occasion, he approached another home at Letogo and cut the screen wire with a machete to gain. While going through the house, the homeowner woke up to the noises and suspected someone was in the place; he quickly walked out to check. He saw you and chased after you. Unfortunately for him, the victim was Pala Brian Lima.
The court doubted he had any chance of outrunning him. The defendant was remanded in custody from the 23rd of December 2022 and granted bail on the 30th of January 2023 when he entered his guilty plea; he was again granted bail.
In February this year, he committed your third offense. This time it is a home in Vailele. The victim was in her bedroom with her baby brother. Filemu removed the window louvers to gain entrance, and Filemu stole one (1) box of 3lb Corned Beef valued at $70.00.
Later that morning, after it was realized that the Corned Beef had been stolen, the victim’s parents went to the shop and discovered Filemu sold the Corned Beef to that store. The Corned Beef was recovered. The total value of the goods stolen by you was $ 1,326.
The defendant is a 23-year-old male from Letogo and has since been banished from Letogo as a result of the offending. Justice Clarke said the defendant is a serious risk to the community of further offending.
His honors noted that it should be clear to the defendant that if he continues to commit burglaries, he will go to prison and hopes that his jail time will teach him a lesson that upon release from prison, he will turn his life around.
