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A 501 deportee has had his existing prison sentence extended after pleading guilty to being in possession of high-powered explosives.
Papakura resident Frank Fualema, 26, was initially sentenced in May to one-and-a-half years’ imprisonment following a random attack on a couple in Auckland’s city centre.
During that hearing, Judge John McDonald mentioned a pending charge involving two sticks of gelignite, also known as jelly, and a detonation device that was found when police searched his home. He did not take the charge into consideration, though, because it was still pending.
Fualema pleaded guilty to the explosive charges a month later, and today Judge Kevin Phillips had to decide what total sentence his colleague might have imposed had the charge been considered earlier.
He decided the sentence would have been two years instead of 18 months, so during today’s brief hearing at Auckland District Court he ordered a six-month sentence to be served consecutively with the one Fualema is already serving.
“You did not give an explanation as to why you had them,” Judge Phillips noted today, noting that the explosives - often used for mining blasts - can be extremely volatile if stored in unsafe conditions.