Kabelo Masoabi
THE High Court has sentenced a Leribe teenager to 10 years’ imprisonment for fatally stabbing a man he accused of attempting to kill his father.
Justice Itumeleng Shale, sitting in the Northern Division of the High Court at Tšifa-li-Mali in Leribe, also granted the offender the option to compensate the deceased’s family M80,000 in lieu of serving a custodial sentence.
The sentence was imposed on Basia Letuka of Ha Lebona after he pleaded guilty to culpable homicide. The charge had initially been murder but was reduced following his guilty plea.
In delivering judgment, Justice Shale said the option of compensation arose from an agreement reached between the two families during mediation facilitated by the Crown and the defence. The court ruled that Letuka may avoid imprisonment by paying M80,000 to the deceased’s family in monthly instalments over 12 months.
Letuka, who was 18 at the time of the offence, admitted to stabbing 40-year-old Kotia Lebona, also of Ha Lebona, to death with an Okapi knife during an altercation at a public bar in Hlotse on 4 October 2018.
The court heard that the incident followed a heated dispute between the deceased and the accused’s father. Evidence showed that Letuka took it upon himself to retaliate, attacking Lebona at a tavern near the Hlotse taxi rank.
According to a statement that would have been presented by state witness Ntebaleng Maqaloe had the matter gone to trial, the accused entered the bar and repeatedly stabbed Lebona while patrons were seated at a table. Tavern employees intervened, disarmed Letuka and restrained him behind the counter.
Lebona managed to flee the premises but collapsed a short distance away near Ha Chanku Supermarket. Another witness, Teboho Putsoane, a security guard at the supermarket, would have testified that the deceased approached him seeking help before collapsing against a wall and falling to the ground, bleeding profusely. He was declared dead at the scene.
The tavern manager, Pakiso Mphoso, told the court that after separating the two men, the accused said he had stabbed Lebona because the latter had previously injured his father.
Detective Police Constable Mokhethi testified that during an inspection of the crime scene he observed a pool of blood on the tavern floor, extending over chairs and a table, with drops of blood leading from the tavern to the point—about 70 metres away—where the body was found.
He said the deceased was lying with open wounds on one arm, the chest and the upper back. The accused was later apprehended and placed in police custody.
A post-mortem examination conducted at Motebang Hospital in Hlotse on 11 October 2018, found that Lebona died from severe blood loss, with damage to chest vessels and blood in the left lung.
In arguing for a heavier sentence, the prosecution stressed the devastating impact of the death on the deceased’s family. “The deceased was the sole breadwinner, employed as a bricklaying contractor. His untimely death left behind an unemployed spouse and a minor child without any means of financial support,” it submitted.
The prosecution further said the family’s hardship was worsened when the accused’s family withdrew support for funeral arrangements two days before the burial, following a dispute between the families. This left the bereaved family distressed during a period of mourning.
In mitigation, defence counsel, Advocate Bolane Qothelo, appealed for leniency, arguing that Letuka was a first-time offender who had shown genuine remorse. He said the accused was youthful at the time of the offence, had been under the influence of alcohol, and had pleaded guilty, saving the court the time and expense of a lengthy trial.
On the funeral arrangements, the defence submitted that the accused’s family had intended to assist but later withdrew after tensions escalated, including the alleged burning of a family member’s house, which led to a breakdown in relations.
Following sentencing, the court facilitated a reconciliation process between the two families. It was revealed that between 2021 and 2022, a house belonging to the accused’s family was allegedly burnt down by members of the deceased’s chieftainship family, though no charges were laid due to lack of evidence.
Justice Shale urged both families to embrace peace and move forward as neighbours.