Man jailed for burglary and assault

Press, 1 June 1985, Page 4

Man jailed for burglary and assault

Imprisonment was the only realistic penalty for offences of burglary and assault on a prison officer, said Judge Fogarty in the District Court yesterday to a man he jailed for two years. Francis John Panapa, aged 25, unemployed (Mr E. J. Higgins), was sentenced on two charges of burglary, committed on December 14 and February 18, and two of assaulting a prison officer. In the first burglary, $BO in cash was stolen. In the second, property valued at $27,600 was taken. Mr Higgins said that both burglaries occurred because his client needed money in order to support a drug habit. All the property, apart from a video, was recovered through Panapa’s co-opera-

tion with the police, he said, i The assaults on the prison ] officer, while his client was j in Addington Prison, were > regretted by Panapa. t At the time he was being < visited by a female relative ! who was upset about a family matter. Panapa » reached across the glass ; partition to comfort her, ■> and seeing this, the prison ’ officer said the interview • was at an end. Panapa, ’ because he was angry and ' upset at this, pushed the » officer and later, while ’ being restrained, assaulted him, said Mr Higgins. • As a result of the assault, ' the officer had to spend two nights in hospital. 4 Mr Higgins submitted I that unless something was 1 done for Panapa’s drug ' problem, he was likely to « continue offending. SEX CHARGES i Because of what the 1 Judge described as the par- i ticularly serious nature of j five sex charges, jurisdic- ’ tion was declined in the case of Wayne Michael ' Charnley, aged 21, and he ' was committed in custody • to the High Court for sen- ' tence on a date to be fixed. > Charnley, unemployed, appeared for sentence after conviction on charges of > having sexual intercourse 1 with a girl, aged seven; - indecently assaulting a girl, aged five, and another, aged i nine; doing an indecent act < on a girl, aged seven; and t 'inducing a girl, aged seven, i to do an indecent act on 1 him. 1 The offences occurred be- i tween March 1 and April 8. > The defendant was also convicted on 17 charges of • fraud by which he obtained - goods and services valued » at JlOB3. ? SPRAY DAMAGE Anti-tour graffiti painted 1 on five inner-city buildings ■ in Oxford Terrace, led to • the appearance of Premdeep Pritam Singh, aged 26, i on charges of intentional ‘ damage. J Singh, a field officer from < Fiji (Mr M. J. Knowles), was ' remanded at large to June < 7. He did not plead. ' The defendant is charged j with causing paint damage ! at Vibes Restaurant,; For--J resters Tavern, the McLean; i Institute Building, D.S.I.R. building, and 'the?;< Oxford Terrace Baptist ‘ Church. - .., f - s The police said -the al-'j leged offences occurred dh??; May 30. DEPOSITIONS A man facing a charge of ; Intimidation was remanded. i to July 10 for the taking of I depositions. • -. ; He is Christopher Alfonso Smith, aged 25, a labourer (Mr M. J., Knowles), who was allowed bail of- $2OOO after being in custody. \ Smith is charged -with ’ attempting to dissuade Robert James McKay by threats from giving evidence against him. He is alleged to have threatened to slit the complainant’s throat unless he dropped the charges against him. On a charge of possessing cannabis plant on May 28, Smith was remanded without plea to June 7.