KZN cop sentenced to 25 years for two murders

The Ramsgate High Court in KwaZulu-Natal has convicted and sentenced a police officer to 25 years’ imprisonment for two counts of murder.

Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) spokesperson Moses Dlamini said Warrant Officer Patrick Gosling was convicted and sentenced on Friday for the two murders that occurred in 2014.

“Both cases, although they happened separately, were investigated by the Ipid and were linked through the modus operandi of the convicted policeman. Gosling, who was based at Port Shepstone SAPS, was sentenced to 10 years and 15 years’ imprisonment, respectively, for each count of murder,” Dlamini said.

Dlamini said it was alleged that on August 13, 2014, Gosling shot and killed 26-year-old Mlondi Ngcobo at the Margate taxi rank.

“Gosling alleged that he was busy with a crime prevention operation at the the taxi rank. He alleged that Ngcobo had run away and that after he chased him, Ngcobo had come at the policeman with a knife, threatening to stab him. The policeman then fired at the deceased, hitting him in the abdomen. Ngcobo then died as a result of the police shooting.”

In the second incident on 21 December 2014, Gosling shot and killed 29-year-old Michael Zakhele Ndovela, of Nyandezulu area. This killing took place at Port Shepstone taxi rank.

“Gosling raised a similar defence that Ndovela had attacked him with a knife,” Dlamini said.

“On both matters he alleged that he wanted to arrest the suspects because he suspected them of dealing with drugs and they had attacked him during the arrest.”

Dlamini said both matters were investigated by the Ipid, which made recommendations for Gosling to be prosecuted for murder.

“Warrant Office Gosling was then arrested by the Ipid on 06 June 2015 for two counts of murder. The sentences will run concurrently.”

He said that during the trial, it was further established that Gosling had committed other crimes of a similar nature where he had shot and killed suspects in the South Coast, in areas such as Port Shepstone, Murchison, Margate and Harding.

“The Ipid commends its investigator for conducting a thorough investigation which uncovered a disturbing pattern of criminality by a police officer,” Dlamini said.

For more news your way, follow The Citizen on Facebook and Twitter.