Rape convict wins appeal to backdate his 10 year sentence
Larona Makhaiza | Monday October 6, 2025 06:00
Boikanyo initially approached the higher court with an aim to overturn the judgment and the sentence handed to him by the lower court, as he felt they were not just. However, when the Supreme Court called the matter for a hearing, Boikanyo dropped his initial application and sang a different tune. He applied that his sentence be backdated to when he was first arrested, which, in his perception, was the right thing to do.
As the convict made a fresh application for the appeal, Judge Tshekiso gave the State a grace period to ascertain if indeed Boikanyo was in custody since March 15, 2018, pending trial and conviction.
Following the grace by the judge, the State adduced evidence that indeed the convict, Boikanyo, was in fact remanded in custody on March 15, 2018, until the trial was concluded on August 19, 2021, when he was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
With the fact established that he was in custody pending conviction, Boikanyo persisted with the appeal against the sentence, particularly the failure by the lower court to backdate his sentence.
To make matters worse, the appellant (Boikanyo) said the court did not give any reason whatsoever that might have led them not to backdate his sentence.
Judge Tshekiso agreed with the convict as he said the court denied him such a right, and advanced no reason.
“When the sentence was passed, the court did not consider the pre-trial incarceration period he had spent in custody. To be precise, his sentence was not backdated to March 15, 2018, when he was remanded in custody,” he said.
Additionally, Judge Tshekiso said for these reasons the court erred by not backdating his sentence, as this is a way to ameliorate the harshness of the sentence.
“In the case at hand, the court gave no reasons for not backdating the sentence of the appellant to March 2018. It does not appear that the court a quo adverted its mind to the fact that at the time of his sentencing, the appellant had been remanded in custody since March 15, 2018. This, in my view, was an error,” Judge Tshekiso said.
Having established that the lower court erred in delivering its sentence to the convict, Judge Tshekiso granted Boikanyo his wish.
“I accordingly make the following order; conviction and sentence are hereby confirmed and sentence as confirmed is hereby backdated to March 15, 2018,” Tshekiso ordered. The case concluded as the state did not oppose it.