Moz man gets life
2003-09-23 19:18
Johannesburg - A Mozambican man was sentenced on Tuesday to life imprisonment plus 19 years for the murder of Draussiotis Charalambous, 73, at his Bruma, Johannesburg home.
Testimony before the Johannesburg High Court was that Charalambous and his wife Elphida were returning home at 19:30 on October 15, 2001, when they were confronted by gun-wielding Goachin Huweni Machel.
As Mrs Charalambous handed over a cellphone and handbag to the gunman, whom she later identified as Machel, her husband rushed to her side of the motor vehicle to help her. He was fatally wounded when a shot passed through his chest and into his neck.
Judge Kathy Satchwell in passing sentence said Machel could have pushed the pensioner out of the way instead of killing him. Referring to Machel as an "economic immigrant" from Mozambique, she said his financial circumstances might explain theft or even robbery, "but poverty and lack of advantage do not justify murder".
She said Machel's sentences were to run concurrently.
Machel, who pleaded not guilty to the charges of aggravated robbery and murder when the trial commenced, was granted leave to appeal against the conviction and sentence.
- SAPA