The court had heard that Tatedi shot Khumoyame on the night of October 1, 2004, with a twelve-gauge shotgun after the deceased and Othusitse Motsomane slaughtered a stolen ox belonging to Tatedi's family member.

Delivering the judgment, Justice Ian Kirby said that he was sending a warning to criminals that Batswana have rights over their property.

"Criminals and prospective criminals, in these dangerous times, when robbery, rape and stock theft are so prevalent, should be warned that the law abiding citizens of Botswana have their rights as well, and those rights include the use of reasonable force in protecting themselves and their property, and in arresting criminals," he said.

Kirby said that he had considered a number of things amongst which was the fact that the two offenders, who were escaping from Tatedi and others, were guilty of a serious offence of stock theft.

He said that they were armed with knives in a dangerous bushy area and that the accused was armed with a shotgun, which he got from his uncle during the chase although he had no experience in firing it. "The accused could not fire warning shots because he only had a loaded single barrel shotgun; not withstanding, he fired to frighten rather than injure and only 11 stray pellets out of 100 struck the deceased," he said.

The judge added that the shotgun was loaded with light birdshot and it was not foreseeable that the deceased would be seriously injured.

Kirby further considered that Tatedi was in danger and that the deceased towards whom the shot was directed was the furthest away and was trying to jump over a fence which would have made it difficult or impossible for Tatedi to pursue him. He also noted that the accused chased the two men for over 100metres without firing, as he only wanted to arrest them.

He said the offence did not qualify for manslaughter. The court heard that the deceased was taken to hospital and died the following day of bullet injuries in the buttocks that resulted in haemorrhaging and shock. Motsomane confessed to the court that he is a stock thief and that he butchered the ox and sold meat at Old Naledi. He said that they returned to the scene to fetch more meat for sale.

After the judgment, Tatedi's family members could not contain their tears of joy. They hugged and kissed and thanked Busang Manewe, the attorney, who represented Tatedi.