Seleka, a former New Era English Medium School student, was appealing on grounds that he was young when he committed the offence and that he wanted to start a new page by going back to school and becoming a responsible citizen. He argued that his young age constituted to exceptional extenuating circumstance. Seleka (then 18 years old) and a 24-year-old man, who was not in court, are said to have gone on a drinking spree sometime in June 2002 and ended up at a Gaborone West nightclub where his friend produced a toy gun, which they used to rob a taxi driver.
Justice Tebutt said Seleka actions were not those of a child because he socialised with older men, drank beer heavily and that he was the one who robbed the taxi driver whilst his friend held the gun. That not the behaviour of an immature youth who should be treated as a child, he said. Justice Tebutt said that Seleka went on to tell the court that after he was kicked out of school he made a living by running a cash loan business. A child does not do that, he said. He dismissed Seleka's claim that the robbery was not planned. He said that the legislature has come up with a minimum sentence for robbery because of the escalating problem and it was the duty of the court to implement the law. Seleka will serve the whole 10 years in prison.
