THE
HIGH COURT OF SWAZILAND
REX
Vs
NHLANHLA
DLAMINI
Criminal
Case No. 406/2002
Coram MAPHALALA
– J
For
the Crown W. DLAMINI
For
the Accused . GUMEDZE
SENTENCE
(30/03/2004)
You
have been charged with crime of murder. It is alleged that on or
about the 5th August 2001 and at or near Guys and Sons Bar in
Malkerns in the district of Manzini, the said accused did unlawfully
and with the intention to kill, assault Mbuso Shongwe and inflict a
knife wound upon him from which the said Mbuso Shongwe died on
arrival at the Raleigh Fitkin Memorial Hospital on the 5th August
2001.
2
I
have taken your personal circumstances into consideration in arriving
at a proper sentence in your case. I have considered what your
attorney Mr Gumedze had submitted to the court. That at the time of
the commission of the offence you were intoxicated. It also appears
from the facts that you were provoked into this act. I was also told
that you pleaded guilty to the offence, and thus showing that you are
remorseful for what you have done. At the time of the commission of
the offence you were a relatively young man of 18 years, and that you
have been in custody since 5th August 2001. I have also considered
the previous conviction that you have with the subordinate court of
the Swazi National Court at Malkerns.
I
want to tell you that this offence that you have committed is a very
serious offence, where life has been lost, and this fact will always
haunt you for the rest of your life.
In
the circumstances of this case, I sentence you to 7 years
imprisonment, 4 years of which is suspended for a period of three
years on condition that you are not convicted of an offence in which
violence is an element, committed during the period of suspension and
the sentence is backdated to 5th August 2001.
S.B.MAPHALALA
JUDGE
