CRI/T/5/04
IN THE HIGH COURT OF LESOTHO
In the matter between:
REX V MOKOALELI THAPELI AND 5 OTHERS
JUDGMENT
Delivered by the Honourable Madam Justice N. Majara on the 31st August. 2007
This is a case of murder against the six (6) accused persons. In terms of the indictment it is alleged that on or about the 23rd July 1996 and at or near Mahausung in the district of Mokhotlong all the accused acting in concert did each, the other or all of them, unlawfully and intentionally kill one Thabiso Shelile Rantsitile. All of them pleaded not guilty to the charge.
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The evidence of the Crown consisted of testimonies of five witnesses, four (4) admitted statements which were marked Al, A2, A3, and A4 respectively and the postmortem report which was admitted and marked exhibit "A". The evidence of the Crown is to the effect that on the above mentioned day P.W.I, P.W.3 and the deceased were herding animals in an open veld when the accused persons arrived one after the other. Upon their arrival, accused no. 1 who was in front hit the deceased on the forehead with a stick whereas accused no.4 hit him with a stone (the size of a fist) according to P.W.1's testimony.
Further that when the deceased tried to run away, accused no.2 arrived and hit him with a sword at the back of the head. According to the testimony of P.W.I accused nos. 3, 5 and 6 also arrived and chased the deceased whilst at the same time hitting him with stones. The deceased fell down whereupon A3 hit him with a stick while A6 hit him with a stone on the head using both his hands.
The witness also testified that the accused then uttered the words, let us finish with these devils' in reference to him and P.W.3 and that they both ran away to give a report to P.W.2. Upon returning with other villagers, they found the deceased lying where he had left him and he, P.W.I observed that the
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deceased had an open depressed wound on the head, an open one at the back of the head and both his legs were broken.
P.W. 3 in turn told the Court that when he arrived at the scene, Al was in a fighting mood and asked them why they were grazing cattle in his field whereupon he hit the deceased with a stone on the forehead and he and P.W. 1 told the latter to run away. The witness told the Court further that the deceased sat down and told them he was removing his boots and asked P.W. 1 to leave his stick. He then got up and went to Al who also came towards him whilst at the same time throwing stones at him.
This witness added that the two then met and struggled over a stick until the deceased hit Al with it. That, they then ran away and he saw A2 approaching and as they were about to disappear from sight, he also saw the other accused arrive. The witness also told the Court that the topography of the area is such they kept disappearing out of and reappearing in sight of the scene. He added that he did not notice whether the rest of the accused were armed or not because he was at that time some distance away.
The witness added that it was snowing and as a result he could not see clearly. After he had driven the horse out of Al's field where they had left it, he went home and met the villagers
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on the way. P.W.3 also testified that he joined the villagers and went with them to where the deceased was and that he did not get very close to him and thus only observed the wound on the forehead. This witness added that the deceased was in Al's field at this particular time.
P.W.2 testified that she knew the deceased as he used to herd her animals. That, on the day of the incident, P.Ws. 1 and 3 arrived at her house and gave her a report, following which she and Chief Halereoe Lesefa went to the veld where they found the body of the deceased. It was her further evidence that she noticed several wounds on the body of the deceased including a jagged one on the jaw, another one at the back of the head, which per her testimony and I might add those of P.W.I and P.W.3 was caused by a sword, as well as other wounds all over the body including the legs.
It was also her testimony that from her observation, the wounds on the deceased appeared to have been caused with a sharp object. From there, she went to report the matter to Chief Makabelo Sekonyela following which the deceased was airlifted to a morgue in Mokhotlong.
P.W.4's evidence was briefly that he is the headman of the deceased's village and after he received a report concerning the death of the deceased from his relatives he raised an alarm in
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response to which he and other villagers went to the scene. It was his evidence that it was at Al's field in a reserved area. He further told the Court that he observed the deceased from a distance because he did not get close to him and he noticed that the latter had blood on his head and blankets. Upon arrival back at the village he reported the matter to his senior chief.
P.W.5 was one of the investigating officers in this case. His testimony was that he attended the scene and found the deceased lying in a veld and he observed that he had sustained three (3) open wounds on the head, one on the arm, two on the chest and other 'minor' ones on both hands and that his left arm was broken.
The witness also the Court that he conveyed the body to the Mokhotlong mortuary and that on the 30th of the same month he and other police officers were on duty when Al arrived carrying two sticks and a sword and proceeded to give them an explanation. The witness identified the sticks as being the same ones before the Court. He was however barred from handing them in as he testified that he did not know who labeled and kept them in his custody or what happened to the sword since he was subsequently transferred from Mokhotlong.
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Two of the admitted statements were identifying ones which basically contained a description of the deceased's wounds. According to their contents, the deceased had two open wounds on the head, one on the forehead, another one on the back of the head, one on the left arm, a broken hand and about four open wounds on the left and right abdomen. The two other statements were those of the police officers who arrested the accused and charged them respectively.
The post-mortem report was handed in and admitted by this Court to form part of the evidence. I however find it convenient at this stage to mention that the defence had raised an objection to the handing in of the report for the reason that they wished to cross- examine its author, mainly because they did not agree with some of its contents.
The Court then directed that the doctor who had conducted the post-mortem be subpoenaed but was informed that after diligent search for him he could not be found whereupon Counsel were asked to address the Court on the issue of the handing in of the report. After I heard submissions from both sides, I made the ruling that the said report should be handed in as a document containing prima facie evidence. This I did on the basis of the provisions of Section 223 (7) of the Criminal and Evidence Act of 1981 (CP & E).
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The provisions thereof read as follows:-
"In any criminal proceedings in which any facts ascertained by a duly qualified medical practitioner in regard to any injury or state of mind or condition of body of a person or his opinion as to the cause of death of a person, or any facts ascertained by a veterinary practitioner as to any injury or his opinion as to the cause of death to any animal may be proved by a written report signed and dated by such medical or veterinary practitioner and that report shall be prima facie evidence of the facts recorded in it”
Whilst I appreciated the argument raised by the defence, my understanding of the section is that it does not mean that the contents of such a report are at this stage, proof beyond a reasonable doubt. Rather, they only constitute prima facie evidence which means it is still challengeable by the other side. Thus, the issue of whether or not the Court can accept the contents themselves as having been proven beyond a reasonable doubt is in my opinion, a different matter which should be taken into consideration together with all the evidence before the Court.
In other words, my allowing the handing in of the report did not per se translate into unequivocal admission of the contents as having been proved in accordance with the standard of proof in criminal matters.
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Coming back to the said report, it reveals that death was due to a head injury, a fractured left leg and hemorrhagic shock. On external
appearances, the report further states that the deceased was in a good nutritious state, had sustained a gun shot wound on the left leg, a wound on the right hand, 3 open wounds on the tempero-occipital region and whip marks on the posterior chest. It also revealed that as far as the skull and its contents go, the deceased had fractured occipital bones and sub-dural hemorrhage of the occipital region. As I have already indicated above, I am still yet to deal with the question of proof at a later stage.
At the close of the Crown evidence the defence moved an application for the discharge of all the accused persons in terms of the provisions of Section 175 (3) of the CP & E. After consideration of the evidence before it, the Court found that the crown had discharged its onus of establishing a prima facie case against all the accused persons and ruled that they all had a case to answer.
Firstly, the evidence had established that the deceased was assaulted and killed at the scene and all the accused had been placed thereat. Although there were some inconsistencies in so far as the evidence of the crown witnesses is concerned, it is the opinion of this Court that these were not so material as
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to cast doubt on their credibility and/or cause any serious damage to their evidence as a whole.
In addition, whilst in its totality Al's projected defence during cross- examination of the Crown witnesses was that he acted in self-defence, and that A2 only intervened upon his arrival at the scene, whereas A4 arrived after the fight had stopped and that the others were not present, the Court found that on the contrary, the evidence of the Crown not only placed all of them at the scene but also showed that they all partook in the assault and as such, they all had a case to answer.
The evidence of the defence consisted of the testimonies of all the accused and D.W.7 an eye witness.
In his defence, Al testified that after he received a report that some animals were seen grazing in his field, he went to report the matter to the chief who told him to go and impound the animals whilst he (the chief) looked for other people to come and assist. He added that he took his walking stick and went to the field and that as he approached he saw the deceased and two other boys (P.W. 1 and 3) herding animals thereat.
It was Al's further evidence that after he crossed a gorge which he had to in order to get to his field, he saw the deceased who appeared angry coming towards him and he
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asked the latter where he was going leaving animals in his field but was not favoured with a reply. Further, that when they were about two (2) paces apart, the deceased raised his stick in an attempt to strike him but he picked up a stone, hit him with it and when he fell down, he went past him to where the animals were.
Al also told the Court that before he could round up the animals the deceased came to attack him and that he in turn picked up stones and hit him with them until they got hold of each other and started to struggle for the stick that the deceased was holding. He then managed to dispossess the deceased and hit him all over the body with it and that at this time A3 arrived and attempted to intervene.
It was this accused's further testimony that none of his co-accused ever assaulted the deceased and that, they i.e. Al and A3 proceeded to drive the animals out of his field and as they did they saw a stick and a sword lying in the field and they picked them up and later handed them in to the police.
A3 in turn testified that he did arrive at the scene of the fight but only to intervene and separate Al and the deceased. He added that upon his arrival thereat, Al was throwing stones at the deceased and then they met and struggled over a stick until Al grabbed it and hit the deceased with it whereupon he
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A3 reprimanded him and got hold of him. At this time A4 arrived and they drove the animals out of the field.
A4 in turn gave evidence to the effect that he went to the scene with the intention of separating the two only to meet Al and A3 on the way and they were already driving the animals so that he never arrived at the scene.
On their part A2, 5 and 6 respectively all testified that they never partook in the fight as they all had an alibi. A2 told the Court at that time he was at a place called Lithakong which is about four (4) kilometers away from the scene whereas A5's evidence was that he was in the mountains chopping wood. A6 on the other hand testified that he was at a faraway cattle post.
The last witness for the defence was D.W.7 whose evidence was that on the day of the incident he was herding animals uphill and that he saw cattle grazing in Al's field. It was his testimony that when Al approached his field the deceased went to meet him clearly in a fighting mood as he was insulting Al.
D.W.7 further told the Court that when Al asked the deceased why he was herding animals in his field the latter rushed towards him with his stick and that Al picked up a stone and
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hit the deceased with it and the latter fell down. He added that Al proceeded to round up the animals and the deceased got up and came to him and that they struggled over the stick that the deceased was holding until Al broke free, ran and picked up a stone and hit the deceased with it. He then left him there to drive the animals away.
The witness further testified that at this time A3 arrived and intervened and that he only saw A4 at the time that the cattle were being driven away.
I now proceed to consider the evidence and to determine the issue whether the accused persons assaulted and killed the deceased person on that fateful day. That Al did hit the deceased has not been denied save for the defence to argue that it is the deceased who was the aggressor and Al was acting in self defence.
I have already stated that two of the Crown witnesses testified to the fact that all the accused did arrive at the scene albeit with the rider that they did not arrive at the same time, Al having arrived first. During cross-examination of these witnesses, many questions were put to them with regard to the statements they made to the police vis-a-vis their testimonies before this Court. The main purpose of the questions was to show that the witnesses' evidence was inconsistent.
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Indeed, as I mentioned earlier, there were some inconsistencies such as for instance P.W.1's evidence that words were exchanged between Al and the deceased, the fact that Al had uttered words to the effect that they should go and rouse their big brother (this in reference to the deceased who was lying on the ground) as well as the fact that P.W.I had not mentioned in his statement to the police that the accused also said they were going to kill them, the devils'.
However, but for the above mentioned contradictions, the rest of the Crown's evidence especially as regards the presence of all the accused at the scene and the part that each other accused allegedly took in the assault was not successfully rebutted by the defence. In my opinion, the said inconsistencies were not of a material nature as to cause any substantial damage to the rest of the evidence.
In addition, the Court found the evidence of P.W.3 who was the only other eyewitness aside from P.W.I, even more probable in that he did not try to hide any of the facts from the Court such as his evidence that after he got up from where he had fallen, the deceased took his stick and went back to Al with the obvious intention of fighting back. This evidence was omitted by P.W.1.
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However, according to P.W.3's testimony, whilst he agreed that when the fight initially started, Al was without company, he informed the Court that as he was running away but before he disappeared from sight, he saw all the other accused (all of whom he mentioned by name) arrive, although it was also his testimony that he did not notice whether they were armed or not especially because the snow that was still falling was blinding him. The Court gained the impression that this was not a biased witness.
In addition, the unchallenged evidence of P.W.5 was that Al later voluntarily arrived at the charge office and handed over two sticks
and a sword. The content of this evidence was not challenged safe that the defence raised an objection against his handing the exhibits for as Mr. Khauoe correctly argued, the witness testified that after the sticks and sword were handed in he is not the one who labeled and/or kept them in accordance with the legal requirements governing same. The said objection therefore, had nothing to do with the factual content of the evidence itself, including the fact that Al acted of his own volition. In my opinion this evidence corroborates that that of P.W. 1 in respect of the allegation that A4 hit the deceased with a sword whereas the other accused hit him with stones.
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This brings me to the evidence of the post-mortem report. I have already shown that this was admitted as constituting prima facie proof of its contents in terms of the provisions of S223 of the CP & E. I have also shown that at the time the Crown applied to hand it in as part of the evidence Mr. Khauoe raised his concern with regard to the contents of the report especially in relation to the one referring to a gunshot wound.
In the opinion of the Court this was a legitimate concern especially when one takes into account the fact that none of the evidence either from the side of the Crown or the defence ever said anything about having seen firearm and or hearing any shots fired or that any shells and/or evidence in that respect was found at the scene.
It is unfortunate that the doctor who carried out the postmortem report could not be found so that he could shed some light in this regard. However, it is my view that apart from this one discrepancy, the rest of the contents as already quoted above namely, the description of some of the wounds which suggests the use of a sharp object, tally with the rest of the evidence of the Crown which in my opinion supports the evidence that a sword (being a sharp object) and having been handed in by A1 was also used in the attack.
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In addition, in his evidence in chief, P.W. 1 testified that he saw A2 strike the deceased with a sword. Al and A3 in turn told the Court that they found a sword at the scene although they disclaimed ownership thereof. However, the totality of the evidence including the testimony of P.W.5 that Al did when all taken into account leave me in no doubt that not only are the contents of the report with the exception of the gunshot wound highly probable but that they are true.
Over and above all this, the admitted statements of the identifying witnesses illustrate that the deceased had different wounds with some being specifically described as open ones including that he had also sustained broken limbs. All of these were also mentioned by P.W.5 during his testimony. As I have already stated, all these factors lead me to the conclusion that indeed the deceased was struck with a stick, stones and a sable on that fateful day.
On the other hand, whilst in their defence all the accused but for Al, A3 and A4 denied having been at the scene on that day, in other words, they pleaded alibi, this particular defence was never put to the Crown witnesses during their cross-examination as Ms Kanono rightly pointed out in her submissions. Indeed most of the questions were aimed at bringing out the inconsistencies in their evidence that I have already mentioned above. For this reason, the Court was
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denied the opportunity of hearing what the reaction of the witnesses would be to this defence.
In the case of Lefaso V R 1990-95 LAC 44 at 48 when dealing with the issue of an alibi that was never raised in cross-examination, Schutz P (as he then was) emphasized the need for the defence to put the salient parts of the defence case to the relevant Crown witnesses in order to give them a chance to counter it and also so as not to give the Crown Counsel the impression that a fact is not in issue when it has been stated before the Court and was not challenged in cross-examination.
Accordingly, in the present case, it is this Court's view that the only inference e that can be drawn from this failure on the part of the defence is that the alibi was concocted as an afterthought. Further, whilst it is trite that the burden to disprove an alibi is on the Crown, it is also undeniable that such alibi has to first be proved by the defence. It is only in that event that the burden would shift onto the Crown to disprove it. See the case of R v Biya 1952 (4) SA 514 at 521.
With regard to Al's defence to wit, self defence, Mr. Khauoe made the submission that in casu, the evidence of the Crown clearly
established that the accused was acting in self-defence. I did mention earlier that in his testimony which this Court
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has accepted as true, P.W.3 told the Court that after he got up from where he had fallen, the deceased took his stick and went to Al.
However, this evidence notwithstanding, Al also testified especially during cross-examination, that he threw many stones at the deceased and that his legs got broken in the process. He added that despite this fact, the deceased kept advancing until they struggled over the stick. He denied that after he had fallen down he continued to hit him with the stick.
I must say that I find this evidence highly improbable but false beyond doubt. In my view, a normal human being cannot manage to continue advancing towards an opponent and struggle over a stick with him yet his legs have been broken. The only inference I can draw from this admission that the deceased's legs broke during the fight is that this happened after he had already been dispossessed of his stick and had fallen down.
For this reason, even if this Court were to believe that when he hit the deceased, Al was indeed acting in self-defence for the reason that there is evidence that the deceased got up and went to him holding his stick, the rest of the evidence that has been placed before the Court as well as that regarding the
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nature of the wounds that were found on the deceased's body, speak for themselves, that Al exceeded by far, the bounds of self-defence. In my opinion, this case is clearly
distinguishable from that of Rex V Manuel Ponte Penedo 1978 (2) LLR 165 at 187 quoted to this Court wherein the Court found that the accused was acting in self-defence.
I may also mention that it is also surprising that the deceased who was purportedly the aggressor according to Al and D.W.7 did not manage to hurt him at all yet, he ended up not only with the numerous wounds including broken limbs, but died as a result of the seriousness of the injuries. It was also D.W.7's evidence that Al only threw one stone at the deceased yet Al himself testified that he hit him with many stones. I accordingly find their evidence as not only highly improbable, but false beyond doubt.
I have already mentioned that P.W.I testified that Al was joined by all his brothers in the assault and this evidence was corroborated by P.W.3 even though it only in so far as their having arrived at the scene is concerned. In my opinion, the fact that their alibi was never raised in cross-examination of the Crown witnesses supports my conclusion that their evidence is false which in turn leads me to find that the reason they lied is because they partook in the assault as it was alleged by the Crown witnesses.
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It should also be borne in mind that this incident came about as a result of the allegation that the deceased had been herding animals in Al's field for three (3) days. Assuming this to have been case, i.e. that the deceased had let his animals to graze in Al's field it was a highly provocative fact which necessitated that the owner of the field should take action. Any normal and reasonable person would have been angered by such actions.
However, this does not mean that the accused should have acted outside the law. Unfortunately, instead of impounding the animals as they were supposed to and had been so permitted by the chief, the accused and his siblings resorted to self-help and assaulted the deceased to a point where he lost his life.
Even if the Court were to believe that the deceased had obstructed them from rounding up the animals, in my opinion they should have gone back to the chief to report this fact so that appropriate action could be taken, although how this could have been possible when they obviously outnumbered him especially after the other two had fled belies this suggestion.
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I also find the evidence of Al and A2 that they suddenly saw the sword lying there without knowing where it came from as false especially in light of the fact that P.W.1 testified that he saw A2 strike the deceased with it. P.W. 5 also said Al brought it to the charge office. The accused in turn did not mention having seen it until at the time when they were driving the animals away. If it indeed belonged to the deceased, Al would definitely have seen it at the time they were struggling over the stick and/or as he dropped it.
Finally, I find that the totality of the evidence that has been placed before this Court leads to one conclusion, to wit, Al and his siblings were so incensed by the audacity of the deceased's letting animals graze in his field (understandably so) that they decided to go and deal with him in the manner that they did and thus acted with a common purpose.
With regard to the question whether they acted with the intention to kill the deceased even assuming that at the time they assaulted him the accused did not possess the direct intention to kill the deceased, it is my view that they ought to have seen that their actions might result in his death but they went ahead with the assault, this possibility notwithstanding. In other words it is my finding that they reconciled themselves with the ensuing result and were reckless whether death would occur or not. See the case of R v Mahloko Mahloko
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CRI/T/6/03 and that of S v Malinga & Ors 1963 (1) SA 692
at 695 quoted therein.
This is further buttressed by the fact that even after the deceased was lying down seriously injured and bleeding from the wounds, the accused simply ignored him and continued with their business as if nothing had happened. Surely this kind of conduct belies the suggestion that the accused did not have the requisite men's rea to kill the deceased. The possibility that he was lying there dead was enough to cool their tempers even assuming without suggesting that they had acted in the heat of the moment.
For all the above reasons, I find that the Crown has successfully discharged its onus of establishing the guilt of all the accused persons beyond a reasonable doubt and that the killing of the deceased was not only unlawful but was also intentional on the strength of the decision in Rex v Ndhlovu 1945 AD 369 at 386 quoted to this Court.
I accordingly find all of them guilty of murder as charged. My assessors agree with me on this finding.
In my opinion I also find that there are extenuating circumstances herein as follows:
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There was some amount of provocation for the reason that evidence has revealed that the deceased and his companions were herding animals in the filed of Al. It is a well known fact that fields are most people's source of livelihood especially in the rural areas.
The evidence has also established that the deceased had a good chance to run away from the assault especially in its initial stages so that he could have avoided his death, but instead, he decided to go back and engage in a fight with Al.
SENTENCE
This is the most difficult part in any criminal matter especially one that involves loss of life. Before passing sentence, my assessors and I were addressed at length by Mr. Khauoe on behalf of the defence in mitigation. He pleaded with the Court to take into account the fact that all the accused persons are first offenders who but for one, are in the prime of their lives and that apart from this one unfortunate incident, are law-abiding citizens.
Further that as the Court has already shown in finding that there were extenuating circumstances, provocation was established without which this incident would not have taken
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place and also that the accused's men's rea was found to have been dolus eventualis as opposed to being directus.
In addition, the deceased not only provoked the accused in grazing animals in Al's field, but he also offered resistance when they went to impound his animals and went to put up a fight instead of removing the animals from the field. The Court was also informed that all the accused were married men whose main source of livelihood is farming and livestock respectively and that they all have several dependants including of orphaned children of their relatives and elderly parents.
Lastly, that the accused are simpletons from the mountains who are neither sophisticated nor educated so that their behavior should be viewed with some amount of understanding and tolerance as opposed to that of a reasonable man who would be expected to react differently to a similar situation with the benefit of education and sophistication.
Keeping all the above factors in mind, the court also took into account the following factors; that all of eleven (11) years have passed since the incident occurred and the matter was left hanging on the heads of the accused for all this time. There was no premeditation on the part of the accused to commit
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murder and from the onset all of them have been well-behaved and attended trial faithfully to its finality despite it having dragged on for almost two (2) years with them having to travel to and from far up in Mokhotlong. Further, that the accused are not hardened criminals who deserve to be incarcerated in prison for a long period.
I have also considered the other side of the coin which is the need to censure violent behaviour in to discourage and deter other members of society from engaging in similar conduct in the future and to mark the displeasure of the Court at the unnecessary loss of a young life.
In my opinion, the incident could have easily been avoided, especially because the accused far outnumbered the deceased who was merely a young man of tender age and nothing prevented them from having just tied him up and taken him before the relevant authorities.
It is in the light of all the above considerations that I accordingly find that the appropriate sentence herein would be that of imprisonment for a period of four (4) years with respect to all the accused and I so order.
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N. MAJARA
JUDGE
For the Crown : Ms Kanono
For the Defence: Mr. Khauoe
Mr. Mahase
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