DPP appeals sentence of 30 months in buying minors case

The Director of Public Prosecutions Christopher Pryde, has filed an appeal against the sentence of 30 months imprisonment imposed on Simione Tugi for the offence of buying minors under the age of 18 years for immoral purposes.

Tugi was convicted on a charge of buying minors under the age of 18 years for immoral purposes in the Magistrates court on 8th December 2021 and was sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 30 months with a non-parole period of 24 months by the Suva Magistrates Court on 17th December 2021.

Pryde says the two grounds of appeal are that the sentence imposed was manifestly lenient given the tariff set in other similar offences and that the court fell into error by failing to provide reasons for fixing the non-parole period so close to the head sentence.