Murder convict undresses for judge

A CONVICTED murderer yesterday caused a stir at the Bulawayo High Court when he undressed and turned violent as he attempted to jump out of the dock moments before he was sentenced to life in jail.

Augustine Ncube, 28, one of the two murderers who killed a Mosi-oa-Tunya High School pupil who was picnicking with her boyfriend close to the Victoria Falls Rain Forest before throwing her body into a river, gave six prison officers a torrid time as they wrestled with him for about 10 minutes.

Both defence counsels huddled in a corner in the courtroom in anticipation of danger. The frightened prosecutor, Whisper Mabaudhi and a court orderly bolted out of the courtroom.

Justice Nicholas Mathonsi, who was in the process of delivering his judgment, had to adjourn the proceedings for about 15 minutes.

Police officers manning the High Court building rushed to assist prison officers to subdue Ncube before he was taken to the holding cells. He was sentenced in absentia in terms of the Criminal Code.

Ncube of Pumula North and his accomplice, Nhlanganiso Luphahla, 34, of Old Pumula murdered Praise Mpofu, 16, and threw her body into the Zambezi River. Her boyfriend survived the attack. Ncube and Luphahla also robbed the two lovebirds of a laptop, MP3 player, earphones, a memory card and $11.

Praise, who was doing Form Four at the time of the attack, was in the company of her lover, Brian Dube, 21, who was an Upper Sixth pupil at the same school. Brian was heavily assaulted and left for dead. He sustained a neck fracture and was taken to hospital where he was admitted for five days.

Luphahla and Ncube were each sentenced to life imprisonment for murder and 10 years for robbery.

Luphahla, who was represented by Nontokozo Tachiona, accused Ncube of being the murderer and admitted that he stole the pair's money and laptop which he later sold.

Ncube through his lawyer, Russell Dzete, claimed that he acted under duress as Luphahla threatened to kill him if he defied his orders.

In his judgment, Justice Mathonsi described the two men as bloodthirsty, senseless and cruel, rogue elements who deserved to be permanently removed from society.

"Luphahla and Ncube gave their defence in a mutually destructive manner and engaging so much in character assassination of each other such that nothing meaningful could be picked from their testimonies. Clearly one can't escape from such a heinous crime by creating a fictitious story and we're satisfied that the two acted in common purpose," he said.

Justice Mathonsi said children have a right to grow up in a free and happy environment.

"This country can't continue to lose human capital at the hands of senseless and useless people like you. Children deserve their freedom and happiness," he said.

In passing sentence, Justice Mathonsi said the court had a duty to uphold the sanctity of human life.

"You killed a defenceless young girl and threw her body in the crocodile-infested Zambezi River. It's the duty of the courts to uphold the sanctity of human life by permanently removing such people from society," he ruled.

Prosecuting, Mabaudhi, told the court that on July 15, 2015 at Zambezi River, Luphahla and Ncube approached Brian and Praise.

"Ncube allegedly picked a log and struck Brian at the back of his head and force-marched the two lovers into a secluded area along the river. The duo allegedly forced the lovers to undress and assaulted them with a log, leading to Brian losing consciousness," said Mabaudhi.

Ncube then remained guarding Brian while Luphahla took Praise to a nearby bush and tried to rape her before hitting her again with the same log on the head until she died.

The court heard that Luphahla later dumped the body into the Zambezi River. He then tied Brian's hands with a laptop cable before stealing money, a laptop, a cellphone and an MP3 player.