Traffic cop avoids jail for shooting wife
2012-05-22 22:32
Pietermarizburg - A traffic officer who shot his wife twice in the face during an argument in Pietermaritzburg was handed a suspended sentence of 10 years' jail on Tuesday.
The KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Pietermaritzburg ordered him to pay his wife R60 000 at a rate of R1 000 a month, and to undergo counselling until discharged by his counsellors.
Judge Isaac Madondo said ordering Lebohang Molefe, 34, to serve jail time would only be retributive and would bring about many disadvantages.
Madondo said Molefe, now divorced, had arranged for an ambulance to be called for his wife, had confessed and co-operated with the police from the time of the crime in April 2010.
He pleaded guilty, showed remorse and offered to pay costs. He had sent family members to visit her in hospital to tender apologies but she had said that she wanted nothing to do with him.
The R1 000 a month would pay towards his wife's counselling and future medical costs.
His wife Londeka told the court that two bullets had penetrated the side of her mouth and exited on the right.
State advocate Suhana Singh said that it was miraculous that she had survived.
Londeka was emotional about her appearance as she could not open her mouth properly and some facial bones had not yet fused.
Molefe said he would ask the department of transport to transfer him to Newcastle to start a new life, away from his former wife.
- SAPA
