Bloem court sentences cop killer to life imprisonment
Image: 123RF/Allan Swart
A 31-year-old man from Bloemfontein was on Friday sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Constable Katlego Mokgadinyane in October 2020.
Judge Lani Opperman sentenced Thembelane Ngakale to life imprisonment for the murder, 15 years for housebreaking with intent to rob, 15 years for possession of a semi-automatic firearm without a licence and another 15 years for unlawful possession of ammunition.
Mokgadinyane, 30, was at his house with his wife and their eight-month old child when they heard a sound coming from the kitchen. Mokgadinyane went to inspect and he was shot twice by the robbers.
His wife noticed two unknown men wearing balaclavas inside the house, one armed with a steel object and the other with a firearm.
They took a laptop computer and a wallet belonging to Mokgadinyane before they left.
Ngakale was arrested later that day and he was found in possession of a firearm, the laptop and the wallet with Mokgadinyane’s police identification card.
Further investigations led to the arrest of two men, but they were acquitted after the judge believed that there was not enough evidence to link them to the crimes.
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