Man found with drugs discharged with strong warning
Do yourself a favour and stay away from drugs. These were the words of Magistrate Seini Puamau while sentencing a 21-year-old carpenter during a special court sitting at the Magistrates Court in Suva yesterday.
Waisake Bauloa was charged with one count of found in possession of illicit drugs. On September 9, 2019, at Navua Town, Bauloa was in possession of 0.3 grams of marijuana, an illicit drug.
The accused had pleaded guilty at the first chance and admitted to the summary of facts read to him in iTaukei language.
Duty solicitor for the accused from the Legal Aid Commission, Lavenia David, told the court that the accused had informed her that the alleged drugs did not belong to him.
She told the court that the accused was not sure what he was going to do with it, however, he held on to it and minutes later he was arrested.
Waisake Bauloa was charged with one count of found in possession of illicit drugs.
In mitigation, Ms David told the court that the accused had sought for leniency and forgiveness from the court. Magistrate Puamau convicted the accused and said it was a category 1 offence as ruled by the Court of Appeal and discharged the accused with a strong warning.
She warned the accused to stay away from drugs as it was a harmful substance and it was illegal in Fiji and most of the commonwealth countries. Magistrate Puamau told the accused that if he was found with the illicit drugs again, he would not be lucky to get away with a warning again.
She told the accused that it was not a future that he would want for himself.
She also issued an order for the prosecution to destroy the drugs within seven days.
The matter was adjourned for a review on September 16.
Edited by Jonathan Bryce