The four men convicted of the MH Superfresh robbery in 2007 have been sentenced up to 14 years imprisonment by High Court judge Justice Daniel Goundar this morning.

Judge Goundar while handing down the sentence, highlighted that the four Sakiusa Rokonabete, Akuila Dromodole, Alifereti Tokona and Guston Kean along with others on July 7th 2007, raided the Superfresh Supermarket wearing masks, armed with cane knives, pinch bars and empty bottles, robbed the families while they were doing their shopping.

Judge Goundar highlighted that at the time there were women and children in the Supermarket and everyone was terrified. They stole six cash registers which contained a total of $21,000 and also robbed some of the customers of their personal items.

The Judge noted that 26 year old Rokonabete had 14 previous convictions and sentenced him to 13 years imprisonment, 26 year old Dromodole had 7 previous convictions and sentenced him to 14 years imprisonment, 23 year old Tokona had 31 previous convictions and handed a 14 year imprisonment sentence and 36 year old Kean who is serving two separate sentences of 8 and 1/2 and 11 years consecutively, was sentenced to 14 years imprisonment.

Judge Goundar also ordered that for Kean, 5 years of his sentence is to be served concurrent to his previous term and 9 years consecutive to the existing term, which means he will remain behind bars for the next 20 years.

The Judge stressed that the four men have totally disregarded others security and have not shown any signs of rehabilitation, despite being in and out of prison a number of times.

The Judge noted that there were no compelling mitigating factors, as the robbery was planned out beforehand and was executed in front of children who were traumatized by the ordeal.

He said that these harsh sentences should not be just a deterrent for the four, but a clear message to others that the Courts mean business when dealing with such crimes such as robbery with violence.