Prisoner and prolific offender Heamani Lopeti will continue to serve his 10-years imprisonment, after his appeal against conviction and sentence for armed robbery and serious bodily harm was dismissed.

The Appeal Court in a judgment on April 17, was satisfied the sentence was appropriate having regard to the totality of the offending. 

Lopeti was convicted on June 14, 2018 after jury trial before Justice Cato on armed robbery and causing serious bodily harm, when he assaulted the prison warden’s son with a machete, during an armed robbery at a home in Hu’atolitoli Prison in 2014.

This occurred while he was out on weekend leave from prison.

Lopeti was sentenced to 10-years imprisonment on the first count and two and a half-years on the second, which is being served concurrently.

The Appeal Court said, Lopeti's appeal against sentence was on the ground that it was manifestly excessive. However, he did not advance any submissions in support other than to say he denied the offending. 

Prisoner on leave

The Crown’s case was that on November 9, 2014 Lopeti entered the complaint’s house in the prison compound at Hu’atolitoli while she was at a morning church service.

He confronted and struck her 18-year old son on the lower leg with a machete and stole 10 Tongan mats. 

Later that day, a prison officer responded to a report of a car crash in Veitongo. He found Lopeti in the driver’s seat and a number of Tongan items wrapped in a piece of cloth in the back seat and another Tongan item on the driver’s seat wrapped in a hoodie and Lopeti had been sitting on it. 

The Appeal Court said the sentence of 10-years imposed for the armed robbery was consistent with this Court's decision on another case ‘Alatini v R.

"Although the offending in that case was more serious than the present, the judge was right to take into account that this was a deliberate and planned theft involving the use of a lethal weapon to inflict a serious wound on an innocent young man." 

In addition, the taking of Tongan mats was a further aggravating factor having regard to their cultural significance.

Lopeti also has a history of convictions for housebreaking and minor assaults. The fact that this offending occurred while he was on leave from prison is also a serious aggravating factor, which warranted some recognition in the final sentence, said the Appeal Court.