A 37-year-old man, convicted of theft and serving a suspended sentence, received a three-year sentence for stabbing a 28-year-old man twice during a drinking party in Vatukoula last year.
Of the term, the Lautoka High Court ordered that Timoci Nawara serve one year immediately and the remaining two years suspended for five years.
The incident occurred during a drinking party in Nasomo on 15 April last year, where Nawara stabbed 28-year-old Joseva Natavelawa twice after an argument.
Despite being a first offender who expressed remorse, the High Court Judge Justice Riyaz Hamza cited the gravity of the offense, Nawara’s culpability, and his four previous convictions, including recent ones in May 2022 and 11 April 2023
“I am of the view that a partial custodial sentence is appropriate in the given circumstances so as to determine you and other like persons from committing such criminal acts.”
