/ 8 December 2010

Life sentence for Bianca Warburton’s killer

The man who killed psychology student Bianca Warburton was sentenced to life imprisonment by the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg on Wednesday.

Sthembiso Mseleku (25) was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder charge, and eight years for attempted robbery with aggravating circumstances.

He got another eight years for unlawful possession of a firearm and five years for unlawful possession of ammunition.

Judge Halima Saldulker ordered the two eight-year sentences should run concurrently with the life sentence.

One of Mseleku’s co-accused, 27-year-old Mphumuzeni Gumede, was sentenced to an effective six years for being an accessory to murder. He was also sentence to five years in prison for the illegal possession of a firearm, and three for the illegal possession of ammunition.

The last two sentences would run concurrently with the six-year sentence.

The last accused, Moffat Mthonti, was sentenced to five years in prison for possession of an unlawful firearm and possession of ammunition. Two of these years were suspended for five years, on condition he was not convicted of the same offence within the five-year period.

Warburton (25) was gunned down in a botched hijacking near the Alexandra clinic, where she worked as an intern, on October 14 2009. She was helping to counsel young HIV-infected people.

‘We are under house arrest in this country’
During the trial, Mseleku had pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him. He said that on the day of the incident he was very ill with sores on his private parts. He said he could not walk for 10 minutes without resting. He later contradicted himself when he said on that day he walked for an hour to a toilet on Third Street, from First Street where he lived. He denied being involved in Warburton’s murder despite two witnesses who testified having seen him running with a gun from the scene.

The court rejected his alibi of being very ill. Saldulker said the two witnesses were credible and there was no room for mistake on how he was identified in an identity parade. She said he was a liar who was very evasive when he was in the witness box.

During mitigation for sentence earlier this week, Mseleku’s attorney, advocate Mbhazima Mavodze, said his client was previously convicted for unlawful possession of a firearm on June 24 2005. He was sentenced to three years in prison and was released in June 2007 on parole, which lapsed in June 2008.

Mavodze asked the court not to impose life sentence on Mseleku. He said he was a youth and candidate for rehabilitation, with no history of violence.

“You need to convince me why the court should not impose life sentence. Where are the compelling circumstances there, when you say he is a youth and a candidate for rehabilitation?” Saldulker asked.

She said a young woman who had done nothing wrong was killed.

“What is happening in this country Mr Mavodze? You get in the car, you have to lock your doors. You are in the house, you need to lock your doors. Clearly, we are under house arrest in this country!

“What is so outstanding that I should not impose life sentence,” the judge asked. — Sapa