A KwaZulu-Natal police officer who fatally wounded his son after mistaking him for an intruder has been sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment for the murder by the Chatsworth magistrate’s court.
The sentence was wholly suspended for a period of five years.
On December 28 2022, WO Vincent Mkhize fatally wounded his 25-year-old son, Ayanda Gift Mkhize, after mistaking him for an intruder who was tampering with his burglar gate at about 1am.
According to the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid), Mkhize allegedly discharged his firearm towards the direction of the alleged intruder and only realised that it was his son after he heard him scream.
The son was rushed to hospital for medical attention but succumbed to his wounds.
Ipid spokesperson Lizzy Suping said the directorate took over the investigation where Mkhize faced a charge of murder.
“Internal disciplinary hearing sanctioned the officer to attend counselling,” Suping said.
She said the court also ordered that Mkhize be placed under correctional supervision for two years.
He was ordered to do a few programmes while under supervision and was also declared unfit to possess a firearm.
TimesLIVE
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