THE suspended sentences of three men charged with robbery will be reviewed by the High Court in Suva.
Alipate Sorovonalagi, Waisale Sali and Usaia Tadu pleaded guilty to robbery with violence and were sentenced to two years imprisonment, suspended for two years, by the Nausori Magistrates Court.
Judge Justice Daniel Goundar said the High Court called for a review to determine if the sentence was lenient.
He said circumstances showed that it was a violent robbery.
Justice Goundar said one of the accused (Tadu) was a soccer player, which appeared to be the reason for leniency.
He said the magistrate obviously favoured Tadu because of his status as a sportsman, saying if a shoeshine boy was to appear in court, he would not be given the same favour.
The three broke into the Kundan Singh service station at Nausori, armed with a pinch bar and broken bottles and stole items worth more than $800. About $500 worth of items were recovered.
Director of Public Prosecutions lawyer Yogesh Prasad said the basis for the suspended sentence in the Magistrates Court sentence was the eight-year delay.
But he said much of the delay was caused by the defence.
The robbery happened in 2004.