Michael Jackson, former co-owner of the Cape Town branch of the Teazers nightclub, was sentenced on Friday to 15 years in jail for shooting dead a street child.
Jackson (45) shot the child believing the boy had smashed the driver’s window of his luxury car.
He appeared before acting judge Dumisani Zondi and assessors Bob Martin and Brahmi Padayachi, who also declared him unfit to possess a firearm.
The judge said this meant Jackson’s license to possess a firearm was no longer valid.
The judge agreed with defence lawyers Manne Witz and Caryl Verrier that the murder of streetchild Xolani Zodwana in the early hours of a Saturday in May 2004 had not been premeditated. The murder therefore did not call for life imprisonment, Zondi said.
However, he agreed with prosecutor Esna Erasmus that there were no compelling circumstances justifying a sentence less than the prescribed 15 years for non-premeditated murder.
The judge told Jackson: ”You shot dead a street child who had done nothing wrong. You confronted him about your smashed car window, he denied he had caused the damage and he then ran away in fear.
”You chased him, caught hold of him and then fired a shot that went through his eye into his head. That’s an aggravating factor that outweighs any circumstances that might otherwise have justified a sentence less than 15 years.”
Jackson was also sentenced to one year for attempting to defeat the ends of justice.
On this charge, he falsely informed the police that he had thrown his firearm into the sea, causing a futile search for it.
The judge is to rule on Monday on a defence application for leave to appeal the murder conviction.
He said he would also decide on Monday whether to extend Jackson’s bail, increased on Thursday from R20 000 to R50 000.
As a result Jackson has to spend the weekend at Pollsmoor Prison. – Sapa