TWELVE months imprisonment is the sentence meted out to a man convicted of stealing 15 packets of Panadol from a supermarket in Suva.

Kepeli Kasa Kolinisau was jailed by Magistrate Yogesh Prasad on Wednesday after pleading guilty to a count of theft committed on July 14 this year.

Kolinisau stole 12 packets of Panadol valued at $83.40 and three packets of Panadol mini caps 20s valued at $32.25 from Extra Supermarket in Suva.

He was spotted committing the act on CCTV and was promptly arrested when he made his way out of the supermarket without paying.

Mr Prasad decided not to suspend his sentence after noting that Kolinisau had five previous convictions of similar nature.

“Court takes judicial notice of the fact that lots of supermarket theft cases are filed in court nowadays,” he said.

“Therefore, it is imperative that immediate custodial sentences are now warranted for deterrence purposes on supermarket thefts in Fiji.”