Recently the Randburg police announced that they welcomed a six-year sentence that was handed down to Igechukwu Agu by the Randburg Magistrates’ Court in Kensington B for possession of marijuana.
Jean Marks from June Stacey Marks Attorneys in Sandton said that the sentence did appear excessive, however, there were mitigating circumstances that the magistrate would have considered such as the amount that the suspect was had in his possession.
She found several case studies that showed that few suspects were handed such a sentence and referred to the Bloemfontein High Courts sentence of another suspect charged with the same crime.
“The person in this matter was fined R5000 or six months in prison but usually the amount [of marijuana] will come into play as usually 100 grams would constitute a year of prison time,” she said.
She reasoned that there may be other elements at play as usually harsh sentences were meted out to someone who was caught with a large amount of the drug.
Quintin van Kerken from the Anti-Drug Alliance in Honeydew said that usually sentences such as these were handed down to individuals who had a previous conviction or arrest.
He explained that even if the police found a seed of the drug, the person on whom it was found, is still liable for prosecution.
“Drugs and drug trafficking Act 140 of 1992 made provision for illegal possession of the drug to be prosecutable and it is this law that will be challenged next year in court,” he said.
Act 140 of 1992 says:
“To provide for the prohibition of the use or possession of, or the dealing in, drugs and of certain acts relating to the manufacture or supply of certain substances or the acquisition or conversion of the proceeds or certain crimes; for the obligation to report certain information to the police; for the exercise of the powers of entry, search, seizure and detention specified circumstances; for the recovery of the proceeds of drug trafficking; and for matters connected herewith,”.
Details: Quintin van Kerken, 081 577 7715
