A teenager (17), found guilty with five others for the murder of a man at Rasta Village last year, was committed to a childcare facility until he turns 21, at which time he will again appear at the Alexandra Magistrates’ Court.
Subject to the facility’s reports on his conduct, the court will be in a position to either pass down another sentence on him, postpone judgement pending further review of the case, or release him.
He was found guilty of the murder after evidence showed he used a rock to crush the victim, Nqobile Masuku’s head, leading to his death.
His accomplices, three youths, a man and another teenager were found guilty of a lesser charge of causing grievous bodily harm and each given wholly suspended sentences for three years.
The incident was reported in this paper’s Minors face Rasta Village murder charge, Week ending 4 March and Suspended sentence for man’s murder, Week ending 6 May, both published this year, and was said to have been instigated by a mob who alleged the deceased was a thief who stole clothes from residents in the area. A doctor’s report in court confirmed the death as resulting from blunt-force injury to the head.
On arrest, the two teenagers were detained at different places of safety while the man was remanded in custody and the youths granted bail until their sentencing.
A social worker’s report found the 17-year-old teenager to be from a broken home, abandoned by parents while very young and raised by a foster family which claimed that he was a problem child.
