Youth Escapes The Noose
Lebogang Mosikare | Monday June 14, 2021 17:07
Passing the ruling on extenuating factors after convicting Keabetswe Joseph, 25, of murdering Mbakisi Dick at Liquor Bar on October 22, 2015, in Monarch, Justice Barnabas Nyamadzabo agreed with the defence counsel Isaac Seleka that the death penalty was under the circumstances unwarranted.
Joseph, then 20, told the court that on the day he committed the offence, he was at Liquor Bar drinking alcohol and smoking dagga with his contemporaries.
“I did not sleep the previous day. While at the bar, the deceased came to me and slapped me. I became unconscious after he slapped me and when I regained consciousness, I stabbed the deceased with a knife. I thereafter went to the police to report the matter. I did not plan to commit the offence. I was aged 20 at the time and I was hanging around with my age mates. One of my parents died in 2010 while another passed in 2012,” said Joseph.
Joseph added: “I was taken care of by social workers and I was staying with my elder siblings who were also young. I lacked parental guidance when growing up hence I ended up drinking alcohol and taking drugs.”
Asked how he felt after he murdered Dick, Joseph said that even today, he regrets what he has done.
He said: “I am really hurt about what happened and I regret what I have done...” After Joseph narrated his life’s story, Nyamadzabo said that he agreed with the defence counsel to pass any other sentence than death since there were exceptional extenuating circumstances that influenced him.
“In the current case, it has been clearly demonstrated that drunkenness, youthfulness and the accused’s parentless upbringing had a bearing on how he behaved. Even though the accused was staying with his elder siblings, it is clear his elder siblings did not offer him parental guidance hence he ended up interacting with his age mates who were drinking alcohol and smoking dagga,” Nyamadzabo explained.
Joseph will be sentenced on July 5, 2021.