Public Prosecutor v Laumae
SENTENCE
A. Introduction
1. The Defendant William Laumae (“Mr. Laumae”), you appear today for sentence having pleaded guilty to two Counts of Domestic Violence, contrary to sections 4 (1) and 10 of the Family Protection Act 2008
B. Facts
2. The brief facts are these – the Complainant in this case is Ms. Nickayla Stafford. She lodged a complaint/report against you on 20 February 2026 because of the violent behaviours and injuries she sustained on her body as the result of your violent actions. The complainant and you, Mr. Laumae, you both lived in a de-facto relationship and had together a daughter.
3. The report said that sometime in the month of January 2026, the complainant was out with her friend partying and she felt asleep at the place of the party but when she was awoken, she was surprised she was at your house at Bellevue area, Efate.
4. You started assaulting the complainant by pulling her hair, holding her and throwing her against the wall of the house, kicking her and stoning her forehead with a bottle of tusker.
5. After this incident, the family of the complainant and your family held a meeting and agreed that the complainant and you will live separately for the time being.
6. On 14 February 2026, the complainant went out again with her cousin Helen Kalmet. They went to Waterfall Bar and consumed few alcohol drinks.
7. They got in a truck to go home, they slept out in the truck and when she was woken up on the next day 15 February 2026, she was inside your room or house at Bellevue area.
8. At that time, you started assaulting the complainant again. You assaulted the complainant on her forehead and body. You continued to assault the complainant until she was unconscious.
9. On 19 February 2026, the complainant has obtained a medical report from the Medical Center Vanuatu on the injuries she sustained on her body. The medical report set out the details of the injuries the complainant sustained on her head, her scalp, her eye, her ear and other parts of her body.
10. The Medical report was also consistent with the complaint of the complainant to the police about the injuries she had sustained on her body as the result of your actions.
11. On the 6th March 2026, the police arrested you and after they cautioned you, you told the police officers that you will only speak in Court.
C. Sentence start point
12. I assess the sentence start point having regard to the maximum sentence available, factoring the aggravating and mitigating factors of the offending; and I consider also any guideline judgment (if any) and comparative type cases provided by Counsel.
13. The maximum sentence for the offence of Domestic violence is a term of imprisonment not exceeding 5 years or a fine not exceeding 100,000 Vatu, or both.
14. In the present case, there are no mitigating factors of offending, but the following aggravating factors exist: -
• Breach of Trust – the victim is the mother of the Defendant’s child.
• Repeated offending on two separate occasions – the victim was taken to the accused’s home twice, against her will, where the accused assaulted her.
• Assault was aimed directly at the head and scalp, face, ear and other body parts (vulnerable parts) of the victim to the extent that the victim was unconscious, where the prospects of further serious injuries could have been sustained.
• The offending was unprovoked.
• Physical injuries of the body of the victim – medical report established blatant conduct causing significant and multiple injuries on the body of the victim.
• The victim was vulnerable in her situation.
• Impact/effect of offending on the victim – traumatic experience as reflected in the victim’s impact statement filed on 13 May 2026.
• Fear is caused in the complainant – put her in a position so she felt unsafe to move around.
• Use of violence – diminishes the trust in the relationship and does not promote good approaches on how to addressing one’s emotions.
15. I refer to the case of Kalo v Public Prosecutor [2020] VUCA 39 when the Court of Appeal stated that “…A term of imprisonment was inevitable for this sort of domestic violence. A home should be a safe place and a sanctuary. The infliction of physical force by a man on a woman is always to be condemned”.
16. The Prosecution refers to Public Prosecutor -v- Garae [2025] VUSC 204 and Public Prosecutor -v- Saly [2024] VUSC 112 as comparative cases to the present case.
17. In Public Prosecutor -v- Garae, the defendant pleaded guilty to three charges of domestic violence. Mr. Garae got angry with the complainant when he formed the view that the complainant may have been having an affair with another person. Mr. Garae assaulted the complainant by punching, causing laceration and bleeding, throwing a canned fish at her, and even repeated assaults on her on separate occasions, as well that lead to loss of consciousness.
The Court after considering the circumstances of the case, took into consideration the aggravating factors, including breach of trust, repeated offending on 3 different occasions, use of violence to control and other aggravating factors as listed on sentencing, then imposed a global sentence starting point of three years imprisonment. Further considering mitigating aspects, the Court then imposed an end sentence of 2 years imprisonment which was suspended.
18. In Public Prosecutor v Saly the defendant pleaded guilty to three charges of domestic violence. Mr. Saly got angry with the complainant during a disagreement, took a sling shot and assaulted her on the backside. Her backside went numb as a result of the assault. On another occasion, Mr. Sali assaulted the complainant to the point that she lost consciousness. Again, on another occasion, Mr. Sali pulled the complainant out of the house to the main road and kicked her right rib with his feet.
19. The Court, in paragraph 19 of the sentence, states that, assaulted the complainant to the point that she became unconscious as a result of being assaulted is a serious injury resulting from Mr. Saly’s act. Having her backside go numb as a result of him attacking her with a sling shot (charge 1) is a serious injury resulting from Mr. Saly’s acts. She was lying prone on the ground when he kicked her right rib with his feet.
20. The Court, after considering the circumstances of the case, takes into consideration the aggravating factors, including Serious breach of trust, the offending occurred at home where the complainant should have been able to feel and be safe and secure, the use of a sling shot as a weapon, the repeated nature of the offending; and the physical and mental effects and the complainant, including the injuries suffered then imposed a global sentence starting point of 2 years and 8 months imprisonment and an end sentence of 2 years imprisonment. There are no exceptional circumstances warranting suspension
21. The defence Counsel submits a sentence starting point of the range of 12 months to 36 months imprisonment to be appropriate.
22. I take all the matters above into account, I sentence you to a sentence start point of 2 years and 8 months imprisonment on each count concurrently.
D. Personal factors
23. Mr. Laumae, you pleaded guilty at the first opportunity given to you by the Court. I give you a one Third reduction of your sentence start point to reflect your early guilty pleas (11 months).
24. Mr. Laumae, you are a young man of 20 years of age. You are currently pursuing your studies at VIT and are expected to complete your certificate II in July 2026. You maintain a relationship with your young daughter. You have the support of your family and community. Your father is deceased. You live with your mother at Bellevue area along with your 4 brothers. You look up to your eldest brother and mother as your father figure at home. You offered an apology to the victim following the second incident. Following the two incidents, you and your family attempted to organise reconciliation through family members and community leaders. However, those efforts were unsuccessful due to difficulties contacting the complainant’s family. You and your family still wish to organise a reconciliation to allow your child who is under the care of her mother (complainant) to move freely within the two families. I reduce your sentence by 4 months to reflect these other mitigating factors.
25. Your sentence is reduced further to 17 months imprisonment.
26. Mr. Laumae, you are not a first-time offender. You have previous convictions. You were previously charged and convicted in two separate proceedings in the Efate Island Court of the Republic of Vanuatu: -
a) The first conviction was in September 2023, the Court convicted you on your own guilty plea to one Count of Careless Driving and 1 Count of driving a motor vehicle without license, contrary to sections 14 and 42 of the Raod Traffic (control) Act [CAP 29].
b) The second conviction was on 25 March 2025, the Court convicted you again on your guilty plea to the charge of intentional assault, contrary to section 107 (b) of the Penal Code Act [CAP 135]. You were sentenced to a fine of Vt 14,000, including Prosecution costs. In addition to the charges, the assault committed by you in the matter was made against the father of the current complainant in this matter.
27. The first conviction is not related to the same nature type offence as the present, but the second conviction is related to the same nature type of offending as the present; and it is relevant for consideration. I uplift your sentence to 1 month, bringing it to 18 months imprisonment.
E. End sentence
28. Your end sentence is 18 months imprisonment.
29. I consider whether this sentence of 18 months imprisonment should be suspended. I must consider the nature and circumstances of the offending and your character as an offender. I consider that domestic violence involving physical force on the body of your partner is a serious crime. The aggravating factors in this case reflected the seriousness and aggravations of the offending. I consider your character – you are a violent young man. I note also that you are a very young man of 20 years. You live in a defacto relationship with a young age partner as well. You cannot control your emotions. The pre-sentence report revealed that your relationship with the complainant is an unhealthy one and you both frequently argue. I doubt whether sending you directly to custodial sentence will rehabilitate you. I decide to suspend your sentence of 18 months imprisonment for a period of 2 years.
30. During the 2 years period of the suspension of your sentence of 18 months imprisonment, you shall not re-offend. If you re-offend during the period of the suspension of your sentence, that sentence of 18 months shall be re-activated and you shall also be dealt with for the new offence accordingly to the law.
31. In addition to the suspension of your sentence, you are ordered to serve 40 hours of Community Work and you are ordered to 6 months supervision under special conditions, you must receive spiritual counselling, you must go through Emotional and Anger, Alcohol and Drugs Management Programs under the supervision of a probation officer. You must undertake any rehabilitative programs as directed by a Probation Officer.
32. You have 14 days to appeal this sentence.
DATED at Port Vila this 28th day of May 2026
BY THE COURT
Hon. Chief Justice Vincent Lunabek