The Grahamstown High Court found that a sentence of 12 years imprisonment, handed down by the regional court in January, was too much for a man found guilty of causing three men's deaths in 2006.
The Grahamstown High Court found that a sentence of 12 years imprisonment, handed down by the regional court in January, was too much for a man found guilty of causing three men's deaths in 2006.
In the long-running hit-and-run case of former DJ Luyanda Mona Magistrate Onica van Pappendorf sentenced Mona to 12 years imprisonment in the Grahamstown Regional Court on 17 January. He was found guilty on three counts of culpable homicide, failing to stop his vehicle after the accident, failing to ascertain the nature and extent of any injury sustained by any person and failing to render assistance to the injured person.
In the new judgment taken at the high court Mona was given a reduced sentence to effectively undergo six years and six months in prison. This will be antedated to 17 January 2012.
Judge Zamani Nhlangulela said what appeared in cases referred to during the proceedings was that the sentence of 12 years imprisonment was unduly severe. This court would therefore not impose such a sentence, he said.
Nhlangulela said a sentence of four years imprisonment for each count of culpable homicide seems to be appropriate, saying that even state advocate Sharon Hendricks conceded as much. He said the nine months that Mona has already spent in prison will be taken into account.
In his new sentence Mona will undergo four years imprisonment for each of the three convictions, but half of each sentence on these counts shall be suspended for a period of five years on the condition that he is not again convicted of culpable homicide during this time.
