Trio sentenced to life after grade 11 pupil killed in robbery outside school

Three men have been sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of an 18-year-old grade 11 pupil who was stabbed to death outside his school during a robbery in Protea North, Soweto.

The Protea regional court on Wednesday sentenced Mahanye Tisetso, 20, Ernest Mohloki, 19, and Kagiso Phoofolo, 20, to life imprisonment for the murder of Lerato Nchabeleng.

They were also sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment on each of two counts of robbery with aggravating circumstances.

A fourth accused, who was 17 at the time of the offences, was also convicted.

The court departed from the prescribed minimum sentence because he was a child offender and sentenced him to two years’ compulsory residence at a child and youth care centre, together with an effective 16 years’ imprisonment for murder and robbery with aggravating circumstances.

The court heard that on February 12 2024, Nchabeleng, a grade 11 pupil at Reasoma Secondary School, was on the school premises with a friend when Mohloki, who was also his classmate, identified him to the other accused waiting outside the school gates.

The group confronted him and demanded his cellphone. When he refused, they repeatedly stabbed him with knives before robbing him of his cap, National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Magaboke Mohlatlole said.

A teacher rushed the teenager to hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival.

The court also heard that after fleeing the scene, the accused went to Mapetla Park, where they threatened another victim with a knife before robbing him of his cellphone.

Following the attacks, two of the accused fled to QwaQwa. Acting on a tip-off, police arrested them there, while the remaining two accused were arrested in Gauteng.

Prosecutors acknowledged the relatively young ages of the accused but argued that the gravity of the crimes outweighed their personal circumstances and warranted lengthy prison sentences to deter similar offences and protect the public.

In delivering judgment, the court described the murder as senseless and brutal, saying it had been committed against an innocent learner at the gates of his own school.

The court said no parent expects to receive news that their child has been stabbed to death at school and held that, in crimes of this nature, the interests of society, the need for retribution and the importance of deterrence outweighed the offenders’ personal circumstances.

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