News / National
Zimbabwean 'witchcraft girl' not guilty: UK Judge
06 Jun 2011 at 13:11hrs | Views
A teenager who dressed in dark clothing and stabbed her mother five times as she slept has walked free from court after claiming she was possessed by the spirit of her dead grandma.
Lorraine Mbulawa, 19, escaped jail after judge Mr Justice Keith accepted the girl had such strong beliefs in witchcraft and evil that she was acting upon what she was told to do by spirits.
The pretty A-level student was cleared of the charge of attempted murder during a trial earlier this year, but was convicted of the lesser charge of unlawful wounding.
The court heard how all her family, including her mother, believe in the occult and did not blame her for what she had done.
In delivering his verdict Mr Justice Keith told Leeds Crown Court: "She believed spirits can enter the body and make you do things that otherwise you would not have done.
"Her beliefs could have made her think she was possessed by evil spirits at the time."
But, he said: "In convicting Lorraine of unlawful wounding the jury must be treated as having rejected her claim of being in a dissociative state. The jury treated Lorraine as if she knew what she was doing at the time of the attack."
During the trial at Leicester Crown Court the jury heard how Mbulawa had put on dark clothes, gloves and a self-fashioned balaclava and stabbed her nurse mother, Sisbsisiwe, five times once in the face and four times in the arm as she slept in bed at the family home in Braunstone Frith, Leicester.
Her mother woke during the attack, believing it was a burglar, and wrestled a knife from her assailant only to discover it was her own daughter.
Mbulawa, who comes from Zimbabwe, claimed to have been acting on the orders of her dead paternal grandmother.
Her father died some years ago in Zimbabwe.
Following her arrest, Mbulawa told police she had planned to kill herself after killing her mother.
Giving evidence in court about what happened on the night of May 13, 2009, Mbulawa said: "I had a dream that seemed a bit real. It was my grandma and dad's youngest sister, Charlotte. Like they were right at the foot of my bed.
"My grandmother said my mother was responsible for the death of my father and I had to do the honourable thing to my father by killing my mother."
During the two-week trial, Mrs Mbulawa, 43, gave evidence that she believed her daughter's actions were committed during a trance of some kind.
She said she believed in witchcraft and evil spirits and said her Christian daughter did not seem her real self during the incident.
Family members were at court and her mother gave her a big hug as Mbulawa was released from the dock. She will now be able to move back home with her mum after living apart from her and having supervised visits for two years.
During the trial James House, prosecuting, said: "Her mother has expressed a belief in the power of spirits common in the culture of Zimbabwe.
"Had it happened there, her daughter would have been treated by a medicine man and would have been exorcised.
But here, as Mr Justice Keith described the case as "unique", Mbulawa was found guilty of unlawful wounding and, as she was considered by a psychiatrist to be of sound mind, was handed a 12-month custodial sentence, suspended for 18 months.
She has to complete 120 hours of unpaid work and must attend supervision that will help her understand her beliefs so she could fight any urges that tell her to commit any crimes in the future.
When sentencing he concluded: "I believe she's a young woman with much going for her. She struck me as being unusually confident and assured, also not unintelligent with a degree of charm and poise.
"She is someone who is capable of possibly paving a good life for themselves.
"Lorraine believes she was doing what the spirits told her to do which reduced her culpability significantly.
"Since she knew what she was doing she should have fought against what she was told to do."
In mitigation David Martin-Sperry said: "The complainant knows her daughter and knows what sort of person she is and has complete faith and trust in her daughter and love for her daughter."
The family refused to speak after the case.
Lorraine Mbulawa, 19, escaped jail after judge Mr Justice Keith accepted the girl had such strong beliefs in witchcraft and evil that she was acting upon what she was told to do by spirits.
The pretty A-level student was cleared of the charge of attempted murder during a trial earlier this year, but was convicted of the lesser charge of unlawful wounding.
The court heard how all her family, including her mother, believe in the occult and did not blame her for what she had done.
In delivering his verdict Mr Justice Keith told Leeds Crown Court: "She believed spirits can enter the body and make you do things that otherwise you would not have done.
"Her beliefs could have made her think she was possessed by evil spirits at the time."
But, he said: "In convicting Lorraine of unlawful wounding the jury must be treated as having rejected her claim of being in a dissociative state. The jury treated Lorraine as if she knew what she was doing at the time of the attack."
During the trial at Leicester Crown Court the jury heard how Mbulawa had put on dark clothes, gloves and a self-fashioned balaclava and stabbed her nurse mother, Sisbsisiwe, five times once in the face and four times in the arm as she slept in bed at the family home in Braunstone Frith, Leicester.
Her mother woke during the attack, believing it was a burglar, and wrestled a knife from her assailant only to discover it was her own daughter.
Mbulawa, who comes from Zimbabwe, claimed to have been acting on the orders of her dead paternal grandmother.
Her father died some years ago in Zimbabwe.
Following her arrest, Mbulawa told police she had planned to kill herself after killing her mother.
Giving evidence in court about what happened on the night of May 13, 2009, Mbulawa said: "I had a dream that seemed a bit real. It was my grandma and dad's youngest sister, Charlotte. Like they were right at the foot of my bed.
During the two-week trial, Mrs Mbulawa, 43, gave evidence that she believed her daughter's actions were committed during a trance of some kind.
She said she believed in witchcraft and evil spirits and said her Christian daughter did not seem her real self during the incident.
Family members were at court and her mother gave her a big hug as Mbulawa was released from the dock. She will now be able to move back home with her mum after living apart from her and having supervised visits for two years.
During the trial James House, prosecuting, said: "Her mother has expressed a belief in the power of spirits common in the culture of Zimbabwe.
"Had it happened there, her daughter would have been treated by a medicine man and would have been exorcised.
But here, as Mr Justice Keith described the case as "unique", Mbulawa was found guilty of unlawful wounding and, as she was considered by a psychiatrist to be of sound mind, was handed a 12-month custodial sentence, suspended for 18 months.
She has to complete 120 hours of unpaid work and must attend supervision that will help her understand her beliefs so she could fight any urges that tell her to commit any crimes in the future.
When sentencing he concluded: "I believe she's a young woman with much going for her. She struck me as being unusually confident and assured, also not unintelligent with a degree of charm and poise.
"She is someone who is capable of possibly paving a good life for themselves.
"Lorraine believes she was doing what the spirits told her to do which reduced her culpability significantly.
"Since she knew what she was doing she should have fought against what she was told to do."
In mitigation David Martin-Sperry said: "The complainant knows her daughter and knows what sort of person she is and has complete faith and trust in her daughter and love for her daughter."
The family refused to speak after the case.
Source - Telegraph
