A 29-YEAR-old shoeshine boy has been jailed for 18 months by the Nadi Magistrates Court for robbery.
Inia Ranuqanuqa pleaded guilty to stealing cash and mobile phones worth $290 and throwing his victim into the sea after committing the offence in Suva earlier this month.
While sentencing Ranuqanuqa, Magistrate Chaitanya Lakshman said the message was clear that people needed protection in Fiji no matter where they were.
Magistrate Lakshman said the court could not be expected to have sympathy for people like Ranuqanuqa who had no regards or respect for other people's lives and property.
He advised the accused to reform and rehabilitate himself while he was in prison because he had put at risk a person who could not swim.