Durban - In sentencing a 17-year-old to seven years’ imprisonment, a Pietermaritzburg magistrate said on Friday that the court could not allow itself to be swayed by public opinion, and his rehabilitation needed special attention.
The ruling was met with disappointment from Portia Nakile, the mother of Akhona Nakile, 15, who was shot dead outside a high school in Copesville in November 2014.
The bullet exited his neck and hit another pupil in the cheek. For this, the accused was charged with attempted murder.
Magistrate Rose Magwera took it and the murder charge as one for sentencing.
The accused was from another school. He had pleaded guilty and had been in custody since December 2014. Magwera antedated the sentence to then.
The accused had said he was tired of being bullied by Nakile.
An emotional Portia Nakile said she was unhappy with the sentence. She had testified she wanted her only child’s killer to spend the rest of his life in jail.
Magwera said detention had to be the last resort when sentencing a child offender. A child had to be detained for the shortest period possible.
“The court must have appreciation that a child’s best interest is more important than anything else.”
Magwera said the element of mercy required children to be treated in a caring, compassionate manner during sentencing. She said the sentence should allow him to rehabilitate. However, the nature of the offence should not be lost sight of. She said this case required rehabilitation in a confined environment.
Magwera said that after hearing about the various programmes the teenager would be exposed to while incarcerated, it gave her hope that rehabilitation of young offenders could become a reality.
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She said a correctional officer said the teenager had a normal upbringing, although his father was absent in his early life. He had not displayed social, deviant or violent behaviour before the incident.
A clinical psychologist said there was no reason to believe the teenager was destined to a life of crime.
The magistrate added it was unchallenged that he had been bullied. This had caused him to act in the manner he did.
The teenager was sentenced to five years for being in possession of an unlawful firearm and three for ammunition. The sentences would run concurrently with the seven-year sentence.
The Mercury