Dad who killed son after mistaking him for a burglar freed after murder conviction
But NPA spokesperson Phindi Mjonondwane said on Saturday that the State appealed to the High Court, submitting that the “sentence that was shockingly inappropriate”.
Challenged
“The NPA challenged the decision of the magistrate citing that, in his finding, the magistrate failed to consider recent case law expounded in a Lenasia case with similar material facts, wherein a father was sentenced to 10 years, suspended for a period of five years, for mistakenly shooting and killing his own son,” she said.
The court found that the first sentence was based on an overemphasis of the effect of the crime on the accused’s psyche.
“The court underemphasised the fact that the respondent fired a firearm in the direction of the deceased without any imminent danger or threat to his own life as there was no evidence that the deceased was armed,” Judge Elmarie van der Schyff found.
Mjonondwane added: “Though the court was of the view that a non-custodial sentence was unwarranted. It also held a view that a long sentence would also not be appropriate as courts’ decisions must also have an element of mercy. The court ruled that, under the circumstances, a sentence of eight years’ imprisonment, wholly suspended for five years on condition that the respondent is not convicted of a crime of murder, is an appropriate sentence.”