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Man gets seven years for police's Valentines death

17/04/2010 00:00:00 LINDA JELE

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MBABANE - High Court Judge Justice Thomas Masuku yesterday slapped a 23-year-old man with a seven-year sentence for stabbing a police officer to death in 2006 on Valentines Day.

Mduduzi Bhambatha Ndzinisa was arrested for stabbing Mandla Dlamini who was trying to apprehend him in connection with robbery.
On the day in question the deceased, a plain clothed police officer found Ndzinisa in a homestead in Fairview. He ordered him not to run away and to place his hands above his head. While trying to arrest him, a scuffle between the two ensued and the officer fell to the ground. Ndzinisa then stabbed Dlamini once on the chest and ran away. The deceased tried to run after Ndzinisa with a gun in hand, but lost strength due to heavy bleeding and died in the yard.

Ndzinisa was represented by Ben J Simelane and Macebo Nxumalo and Absalom Makhanya both appeared on behalf of the crown.
Ndzinisa had been charged with murder, but Masuku reduced the charge to culpable homicide. He stated that the crown had failed to satisfy the court that Ndzinisa was guilty of murder. The crown had stated that Ndzinisa first assaulted the police officer when he tried to arrest him. Ndzinisa however denied that, and said the deceased first hit him with a fist on the face such that he broke one of his teeth.

He also said he fought back when the deceased produced a fire arm. Masuku said the evidence led by the crown was probable. He said it was a natural reaction for a person to attack when a someone comes unannounced with orders to search.
“The deceased had no reason it would seem to me, to assault the accused first, particularly because the accused had heeded his order not to run away. As far as he was concerned, he had found the man he wanted to arrest and directed his energies at doing just that,” Masuku said.

Masuku further said there was no evidence that Ndzinisa intentionally and unlawfully wanted to kill the deceased.
He therefore found Ndzinisa guilty of Culpable Homicide. He said murder was explained as the unlawful killing of a human being with the intent to kill, while culpable homicide was the unlawful killing of a person either negligently or intentionally in circumstances of partial excuse.

He said there was partial excuse in Ndzinisa’s case. He said the deceased rudely interrupted a conversation between the accused and a female friend.
“I am of the view that in the peculiar circumstances of this case, the accused’s reaction does bear a reasonable relationship to the provocation and due to the speed at which the events occurred,” Masuku said.
He sentenced Ndzinisa to seven years imprisonment for culpable homicide.

He suspended two years of the sentence for a period of three years on condition he was not convicted of an offence where violence was an element during the period of suspension. He also backdated the sentence to February 14, 2006 when Ndzinisa was arrested.
Masuku acquitted and discharged Ndzinisa of the robbery charge on the grounds there was no sufficient evidence to link him to the crime.

No short cuts please - Judge

MBABANE Police officers should not take short cuts when apprehending suspects, Justice Thomas Masuku has said.
Masuku said police should not rely on the fact that suspects know them. He was making reference to the case where a police officer was stabbed to death while trying to apprehend a robbery suspect.

He died on February 14, 2006 while trying to arrest Mduduzi Bhambatha Ndzinisa in Fairview. Ndzinisa stabbed Dlamini and he died as a result of the stabbing. The deceased had allegedly approached Ndzinisa and ordered him not to run away and to raise his arms above his head and he arrested him. Ndzinisa loosened the grip and after an alleged short scuffle, stabbed the police officer.

“He had entered a homestead without salutation as is the norm of Swazi Law and Custom, an issue of which the court takes judicial notice. Without introducing himself as a person and more particularly as a policeman, he issued orders to the accused not to run away,” Masuku said.
Masuku also said the police officer (deceased) did not follow the correct procedure that police, who are not armed with a warrant of arrest are enjoined to comply.
Masuku also said the situation was that Ndzinisa found himself accosted by a fully grown man who was carrying a firearm.

“Police officers must understand that a personal liberty is a right and that interference therewith is an exception that will be allowed in circumscribed circumstances. In this instant the law is clear as to what steps a police officer should adopt where he intends to effect arrest,” he said.
He said they should introduce themselves and if not in uniform, produce a police identity card as well as state their mission to the concerned person.

He stated that it was evident that the deceased did not do that when he apprehended the accused. He said in cases where a police died, there may be no evidence regarding what the accused knew or did not know if the police officer did not follow the procedure.