(1989)1989January13 (MALACHTOS,KOURR1S,BOYADJ1S,JJ.) ATTORNEY-GENERALOFTHEREPUBLIC, Appellant, v. YIANNAKISDAMIANOUKARAKOULAS, Respondent. (CriminalAppeal No. 5027). Sentence —Obtainingmoney (£4,500.-)by falsepretences contraryto 'sections 297 and 298 of the CriminalCode, Cap. 154 —£150 fine —Manifestlylow—Substituted bysixmonths' imprisonment. Sentence —Mitigatingfactors—Obtainingmoney byfalsepretences — Repayment isamitigatingfactor, butunsuccessfuleffortstosecurea loaninordertoeffectrepayment arenot. 5 Thefactsofthiscaseappearsufficiently inthehereinabovenotes. Appeal allowed. Appeal against inadequacyofsentence. Appeal by the Attorney-General of the Republic against the 10 inadequacy of the sentence passed on the accused in Criminal CaseNo.30401/87 oftheDistrictCourtof Limassol(Papas,D.J.) whereby he wassentenced to pay£150.-fine and £68.-costs for the offence of obtaining money by false pretences contrary to sections297 and 298oftheCriminal Code, Cap. 154. 15 A M. Angelitfes, Senior Counsel of the Republic, for the appellant. G.Sawides, for the respondent. MALACHTOSJ.gavethefollowingjudgmentoftheCourt.The respondent inthisappeal pleaded guiltybefore theDistrictCourt 20 ofLimassoltoachargeundersections297and298oftheCriminal Code,Cap.154,thatduringthemonthofMarch,1987atLimassol 6 2CL.B. Attorney-Generalv.KarefconU» Malachto·J. in the District of Limassol, by false pretences and with intent to defraud, didobtainfrom oneYiannakisStavrouofNicosiathesum of£4,500.-incash, the false pretences beinginsubstance and to the effect that the accused sold to the said YiannakisStavrou of 5 Nicosia motor car Reg. No.SF884, registered inthe name of U Cpl. Alan Winkler of Episkopi and the Cyprus Popular Bank (Finance) Ltd., pretending to the said Yiannakis Stavrou that the said motor car had no problem to the transfer and that the registeredownerwouldbringtohimtheCertificate ofRegistration 10 and other documents of the said motor car within 6 days for the purpose of transferring same in the name of hisdaughter Stella, whereas in fact and truth the said motor carwas a duty free one financed by and pledged to the Cyprus Popular Bank (Finance) Ltd., forthesum of£3,721.32 cents. 15 The facts ofthe caseappear inthe chargesheetandhave been related today in full detail by both counsel for the Republic and counsel forthe respondent. The trialjudge in hisjudgment very rightlystated that accused pleaded guiltytoaveryseriouschargeandinpassingsentenceon 20 him took intoconsideration, ashe stated, (a)thattheaccusedhad nopreviousconvictions; (b) the special circumstances under which the offence was committed and, more important, 25 (c)thattheaccusedmadeunsuccessful efforts tosecurealoanin ordertopay backthemoneytothe complainant. For these reasons he decided that he would not send him to prison and sentenced him to £150.- fine and also to pay £68.costsof the prosecution. Asagainst thissentence thisappeal was filed by the Attorney-General of the Republic under section 30 137(l)(b) of the Criminal Procedure Law, Cap. 155, that the sentence imposed is insufficient. After hearing the arguments of counsel, we must say that we havebeenpersuaded thatthesentenceimposedbythetrialJudge in the circumstances of the present case is insufficient and 35 manifestly low. No doubt repayment of the money involved in cases of thisnature isa factor which should alwaysbe taken into consideration in passing sentence, but certainly not unsuccessful efforts to secure a loan for such repayment. So, we allow the 7 Malachto·J. Attorney-Generalv.Karakoulas
(1989)appeal,quashthesentenceoffineaswellasthepaymentofcosts, andwesubstituteitwithsixmonths'imprisonmentfromtoday. Appealallowed. Accusedsentenced tosixmonths'imprisonment. 8