Four years jail for attack on driver

A23-year-old man was sentenced to four years in jail yesterday after he pleaded guilty to one count of attempted aggravated robbery.

Marika Bola, with others, planned a co-ordinated attack on a 34-yearold male taxi driver on February 9, 2018, in Suva.

On the day of the incident, a member of the group hired a taxi from Fletcher Road to Daya Street in Vatuwaqa. On arrival at Daya Street two others got into the taxi and told the driver to take them to the city.

While they were approaching Flagstaff the accused in the front passenger seat pulled the hand brake while the other two accused at the back seat started punching the driver. The driver pleaded with them to take the money and leave him alone. When he heard that they wanted to take his taxi he sped off while honking the horn of the taxi and stopped at the nearest petrol station.

When the taxi stopped the accused men got off and fled the scene. The incident was witnessed by a Police officer who was at the petrol station.

He gave a chase and caught Bola, who admitted to the offence under caution.

The victim was medically examined and it was noted that he sustained mild bruising to his left eye.

In mitigation, the accused told the court he was married with one child and his wife was pregnant with their second child.

The court heard that his family depended on him for their livelihood and that he came from a broken home.

The accused told the court he left school after Year Eight and had not been able to make much out of his life after leaving school.

He committed his first crime of burglary in 2012 and thereafter he committed six other offences.

His last offence of theft was on February 28, 2017, for which he was given a 10-month jail term suspended for two years.

Justice Goundar told Bola that he had not made use of the mercy and compassion shown to him in the past by the courts for him to change his anti-social behaviour.

He said the purpose of the sentence was a deterrence to protect taxi drivers and their safety.

Justice Goundar declined to fix a non-parole period to give the accused a chance to rehabilitate himself while serving his sentence.