CRI/T/8/93

IN THE
HIGH COURT OF LESOTHO

In the
Matter of :

REX

v

MOLELEKI
MOTHE

JUDGMENT

Delivered
by the Hon, Mr. Justice B.K. Molai on the 30th day of August. 1995.

The
accused appeared before me charged with a crime of murder. The facts
disclosed by the body of the charge sheet were that on
or about 28th
June, 1990 and at or near Ha Mothe, Mpharane, in the district of
Mohale's Hoek the accused unlawfully and intentionally
assaulted Pesa
Sekete and inflicted upon him certain injuries as a result of which
the said Pesa Sekete died on 29th June, 1990
at the Government
hospital of Mohale's Hoek.

When the
charge was put to him, the accused pleaded guilty of Culpable
Homicide. Mr. Phoofolo who represented the accused in this
matter
told the court that the plea of guilty to culpable Homicide tendered

2

by the
accused person was in accordance With his instructions. Mr, Thatsane,
for the crown, accepted the plea of guilty to culpable
Homicide
tendered by the Defence.

It is
trite law that in a criminal case, the crown is Dominus litis. Where
the crown decides to accept the plea of guilty to culpable
Homicide
tendered by the defence, as it has done in the present case, the
court cannot refuse the plea. The plea of guilty to culpable
Homicide
tendered by the Defence and accepted by the Crown was accordingly
entered and the provisions of S. 240(l)(a) of the Criminal
Procedure
and Evidence Act. 1981 invoked.

The
section reads:

" 240(1) If a person charged with any offence before any court
pleads guilty to that offence or to an offence of which he
might be
found guilty on that charge, and the prosecutor accepts that plea the
court may -

1. If
   it is the High Court and the person has pleaded guilty to any
   offence other than murder' bring in a verdict without hearing
   any
   evidence;"

   
   

In the
present case, the accused, who is charged with the crime of murder
has pleaded guilty to culpable Homicide which is an offence
of which
he may be found guilty on a charge of murder i.e. culpable

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Homicide
is a competent verdict of murder. On the authority of the provisions
of the above cited section 240(1) (a) of the Criminal
Procedure and
Evidence Act. 1981, it seems to me, that the High Court is empowered
to return a verdict without hearing any evidence
at all. The accused
is accordingly found guilty of culpable Homicide, on his own plea.

My
assessors agree with this finding.

SENTENCE:

In
mitigation of the accused's punishment, the court was told that he
had no record of previous convictions. He was, therefore,
a first
offence.

On behalf
of the accused, the Defence counsel also invited the court to
consider in mitigation, of his punishment, a number of factors
which
were tabulated so well that it would be unnecessary for me to go over
them again save to say that they were all taken into
account,
particularly the fact that the accused was, according to the charge
sheet, only about 18 years old at the time he committed
the offence
against which he now stands charged.

The court
is, however, not prepared to turn a blind eye to the seriousness of
the offence with which

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the
accused person has been convicted. He has deprived another person of
his life. A human life is God given and for that reason
sacred. This
court has, on numerous occasions, warned that it will take a rather
diem view of people who seem prepared to deprive
their fellow humans
of their lives for the flimsiest of reasons. These warnings of the
court seem to be going unheeded. There is,
therefore a need to impose
a sentence that will deter the accused person from a repetition of
this sort of a thing and serve as
a lesson to people of his mind that
the courts of law will not tolerate this kind of behaviour.

In the
result, the accused is sentenced to pay a fine of M500 or serve a
term of 5 years imprisonment in default of payment of the
fine.

B.K.
MOLAI

JUDGE

30thAugust,
1995.

For Crown
: Mr. Thetsane,

For
Defence: Mr. Phoofolo.