A former Fiji 7s player has been sentenced to eight years imprisonment for raping his de-facto partner’s niece.
The 47-year-old committed the offence in December 2019.
The Suva High Court heard that the man accompanied his friends to the victim’s house for a drinking party on Christmas Eve.
The victim’s family were also present at the party.
The court heard the former prison officer and the victim consumed a substantial amount of alcohol until the early hours of December 26th when the victim lost consciousness and fell asleep.
The court heard the witnesses saw the man having sexual intercourse with the victim while she was asleep.
When questioned by the witnesses, the man blamed alcohol for his conduct.
However, the victim had no recollection of the incident when her brother woke her up.
Judge Justice Daniel Goundar says alcohol is not an excuse to commit a crime, in fact intoxication is an aggravated factor.
Justice Goundar says the man took advantage of the victim’s drunk state and breached her trust.
He has a non-parole sentence of six years.