Man escapes jail term in threat-to-kill case

BONTE SEEPI
Correspondent | Thursday June 20, 2013 00:00

Goitsemodimo Setume who is unemployed was found guilty of assaulting his girlfriend, Keneilwe Gabareke and threatening to kill her at Monarch in January 2012. Setume is said to have beaten his girlfriend with fists and kicked her,  injuring her right eye. His defence was that he did so after the woman, who was carrying his child had told him that she had aborted the pregnancy. In sentencing, the magistrate considered the fact that Setume did not waste the courts time by admitting the offence.

'We have considered that you have saved this court's precious time by pleading guilty to the charge,' said the magistrate. He added that he did not take into account Setume's 2004 conviction for common assault but considered the reasons he gave for beating up his girlfriend. He said the girlfriend had provoked Setume by confessing to abortion and this made him angry. In addition, the accused told the court that he was drunk during the time of the crime.

Meanwhile, Setume might not escape the three strokes on his bare backside that the magistrate said should be given to him after a medical examination. Setume has been in prison since March 2012. He appeared in person while Anthony Kebiditswe from Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP) represented the state.