Repeated drug offender jailed [1]
Wednesday, February 24, 2021 - 18:47
Sione Siueli Angilau (41) was sentenced to 12-months imprisonment for possession of 0.07 grams of methamphetamine and 9.26 grams of cannabis.
Justice Langi sentenced him at the Nuku’alofa Supreme Court, after he pleaded guilty when re-arraigned in January.
The offending was on December 5, 2019 when police received reliable information that the accused was selling drugs from his home. They went to his house and carried out a search without a warrant, under the Tonga Police Act.
The accused was searched and eight packets of cannabis were found in the right pocket of his trousers.
Police then searched his bedroom and further found four packets of cannabis inside the pockets of one of his trousers. In the rear pocket of the same trousers, one packet of methamphetamine was also found.
He admitted to the police that the cannabis belonged to him but that he had found the packet of methamphetamine on the road. He has one previous conviction for possession of illicit drugs in 2019.
The Court heard, that the accused was deported to Tonga in 2009, after he was convicted in Hawaii for aggravated police assault, where he served a total of eight-years imprisonment.
The judge said as highlighted by the Crown, he has a previous conviction for possession of illicit drugs.
“This is particularly concerning because he was sentenced for his first drug offending in May 2019 and only a few months later he re-offended in December 2019.”
In addition, this demonstrates a blatant disregard for the laws of this country and also tells me that the rehabilitation courses undertaken had no effecton him at all, said the judge.
However, while previous convictions are relevant to establish the character of an accused for sentencing purposes and whether he has a predilection to commit a particular type of crime, a sentencing judge should be on guard against sentencing the accused twice for the same offences, which he had previously been convicted and sentenced on.
He was then sentenced to 12-months imprisonment.
However, the judge accepted the accused was remorseful and gave him an opportunity to again undertake the rehabilitation courses, hoping he will take the course seriously and avoid a lifetime of crime.
It was then ordered that the last nine-months of his sentence be suspended for 12-months.
This meant that the accused is currently serving three-months at Hu’atolitoli Prison.