Security Guards Jailed For Murdering A Man They Mistook To Be A Thief

The Kabwe High Court has sentenced two G3 security guards in Kabwe to five years imprisonment with hard labour for murdering a man they mistook to be a thief.
In passing sentence, Judge Elita Mwikisa said it was saddening that the two guards took the law in their own hands while manning the railway station and beat Peter Zulu before establishing if he was a thief or not.
This is in a case in which Phineas Ngoma, Erick Kalayi where jointly facing a murder charge but the court acquitted Mate Liyango on the basis that there was no evidence to link him to the crime.
Particulars of the offence were that Ngoma and Kalayi, while acting together on May 30, 2013 murdered Zulu.
During trial, the State called four witnesses who testified that on the fateful night, the two were on duty at the railway station when they beat up the deceased.
The witnesses testified that the deceased was drinking beer with his friend when the guards attacked him and accused him of stealing from passengers at the station before he was dragged to the enquiry office.
Zulu died a day later in hospital.
At the closure of the case by the prosecution, Ngoma and Kalayi were found with a case to answer and put on defence.
Ms Justice Mwikisa said it was clear that the two inflicted pain on the deceased in the course of their duty and sentenced them to five years imprisonment each with hard labour.
Earlier, in mitigation, through their lawyer Bridget Pizo, the two asked for leniency, saying the attack on the deceased occurred in the course of their duty but said they did not intend to kill him.
She said the security guards who had sworn to protect the lives of passengers from criminal acts did not have intentions of killing him adding that the deceased was also attacked by a mob within the station before he was whisked away.

-By SYLVIA MWEETWA

Posted by Kunda on July 27, 2014. Filed under CRIME. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.