THE Court of Appeal has rejected an appeal against conviction and sentence by a man convicted of aggravated robbery.
Acting Court of Appeal president Justice William Calanchini said Mesake Sinu was sentenced to a term of eight years imprisonment to be served concurrently with a sentence of nine years he was already serving.
The court heard he was sentenced on September 10, 2009.
"The sentence is not wrong in law nor is it manifestly excessive," Justice Calanchini said. "I have concluded that it is a sentence that is within the range for a conviction of aggravated robbery with prior convictions for the same offence."
Justice Calanchini said Sinu did not raise an arguable point on this ground of appeal against sentence and as a result the application for an extension of time to appeal was dismissed.
The court heard Sinu and others broke into Five Princes Hotel on June 17, 2006 and stole $100 from the reception desk.
The victim of the robbery, Peceli Qasevakatini, who was working as a chef at the hotel, identified Sinu as her nephew. Ms Qasevakatini was the only staff member at work when she heard noise in the reception area. She went from the kitchen to the reception area, turned on the lights and saw five people standing there.
The lights exposed Sinu's face to Ms Qasevakatini.
She asked them what they were doing there but nobody replied. She said a chair was then thrown at her by one of the men and another threatened her with a knife.