The Mpumalanga High Court on Tuesday sentenced Lucky Mabhobo Silinda to life and 70 years' imprisonment for a spree of violent crimes, including murder.
Silinda and his accomplices committed a murder and attempted murder, housebreakings and robberies in the Nsikazi district between September 2021 and June 2022.
Silinda, 28, entered into a plea sentencing agreement with the state before being sentenced. He pleaded guilty to the crimes committed in Clau-Clau, Pienaar, KaBokweni and Masoyi.
The accused would break into his victims’ houses, threaten them with a firearm and rob them of their valuables including cellphones, cash, and jewellery.
On May 8 2022, Silinda, with his unknown accomplices, broke into a house in Clau-Clau where they found three occupants sleeping.
“They fired shots which injured a female in the stomach, and took the victims' cellphones. While walking out of the house one of the occupants, Patson Elmon Nyantumba, tried to hit them with a golf stick. They fatally shot him and walked away,” National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Monica Nyuswa said.
In another incident at Makoko Trust on September 8 2021, the accused and his accomplices entered a church building armed with a firearm and robbed a group of women counting money for the burial society.
During the police investigation, Silinda was found in possession of some of the victims’ cellphones.
State advocate Antoinette Nkosi submitted to the court that the accused’s guilty plea was not a sign of remorse. She said the court should consider the seriousness of the charges and impose a prescribed minimum sentence of life for the murder.
The court found no compelling and substantial circumstances to deviate from the minimum sentence.
TimesLIVE
Life plus 70 years for man who went on spree of violent crimes in Mpumalanga
Accused and accomplices robbed women counting money for a burial society
Image: NPA Communications.
The Mpumalanga High Court on Tuesday sentenced Lucky Mabhobo Silinda to life and 70 years' imprisonment for a spree of violent crimes, including murder.
Silinda and his accomplices committed a murder and attempted murder, housebreakings and robberies in the Nsikazi district between September 2021 and June 2022.
Silinda, 28, entered into a plea sentencing agreement with the state before being sentenced. He pleaded guilty to the crimes committed in Clau-Clau, Pienaar, KaBokweni and Masoyi.
The accused would break into his victims’ houses, threaten them with a firearm and rob them of their valuables including cellphones, cash, and jewellery.
On May 8 2022, Silinda, with his unknown accomplices, broke into a house in Clau-Clau where they found three occupants sleeping.
“They fired shots which injured a female in the stomach, and took the victims' cellphones. While walking out of the house one of the occupants, Patson Elmon Nyantumba, tried to hit them with a golf stick. They fatally shot him and walked away,” National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Monica Nyuswa said.
In another incident at Makoko Trust on September 8 2021, the accused and his accomplices entered a church building armed with a firearm and robbed a group of women counting money for the burial society.
During the police investigation, Silinda was found in possession of some of the victims’ cellphones.
State advocate Antoinette Nkosi submitted to the court that the accused’s guilty plea was not a sign of remorse. She said the court should consider the seriousness of the charges and impose a prescribed minimum sentence of life for the murder.
The court found no compelling and substantial circumstances to deviate from the minimum sentence.
TimesLIVE
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