A 35-year-old Mvurwi was recently sentenced to seven years imprisonment for fatally assaulting his best friend on 09 October 2022 for joking about bedding his wife.
In sentencing Mike Foya, High Court judge Justice Munamato Mutevedzi considered that he committed the crime after being provoked.
Four years of his sentence were set aside on condition that he does not commit a similar offence in the next five years.
During the trial, prosecutors said Foya and his friend, Innocent Chawira were coming from a beer drink.
The two were so drunk that they had difficulties finding their way home.
Chawira joked he was in love with Foya’s wife, igniting an argument that degenerated into a physical fight. Read the court papers:
The boastful friend was beaten and left for dead. He indeed was found dead the next day.
Foya pleaded not guilty to the charge of murder but guilty to the lesser charge of culpable homicide as defined in section 49 of the Criminal Law Code.
The prosecution accepted his limited plea.
Foya submitted that he did not consider the degree of force he applied when he assaulted his friend.
He also said he did not pay regard to the fact that the part of the deceased’s body he targeted for the blow was delicate.
Justice Mutevedzi conceded his arguments were acceptable. Ruled the judge:
Given the above evidence, we are satisfied that the acceptance by the prosecution of the accused’s plea of guilty to the lesser charge is an informed decision.
Against that background, the accused person is found not guilty and is acquitted of the charge of murder.
He is found guilty of the lesser charge of culpable homicide as defined in s 49 of the Criminal Law Code.
The accused stands convicted of the offence of culpable homicide. He killed his friend in a drunken brawl.
He is 31 years old. Counsel who represented him urged the court to take into account that he is indeed a youthful offender.
This court has accepted in the past that the Constitution of Zimbabwe, 2013 in s 20 accords the status of youth on any person between the ages of 15 and 35 years.
The accused pleaded guilty to the charge. Needless to say, pleas of guilty are valuable to the expeditious resolution of criminal cases.
Criminal trials particularly in this court are often a prolonged battle with extended hours being expended in the maze of seeking the truth.
In that process, huge amounts of material resources are needed for the payment of witness expenses.
An accused who pleads guilty must therefore be rewarded for the savings which he/she brings to the administration of justice.
Whether it was intended to be a prank or it was reality nobody will really know. If it was a prank, it, unfortunately, went horribly wrong.
The court equally accepts that the accused acted out of provocation by the deceased who taunted him for having an extramarital affair with his wife.
As if that was not enough, the deceased went on to assault the accused who then retaliated and killed him. The deceased was therefore the initial aggressor.
The situation was compounded by the fact that the accused was intoxicated. He simply lost it as a result.
Justice Mutevedzi also considered that Foya has been in jail since his arrest last year.
Culpable homicide refers to an unlawful act that results in the death of another person, where the accused did not intend to cause death but acted in a manner that showed disregard for human life.
More: Pindula News