Sindisiwe Manqele has been refused leave to appeal her conviction and sentence for murdering her rapper boyfriend Nkululeko “Flabba” Habedi.
This in the Johannesburg High Court‚ sitting at the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court‚ on Tuesday.
“I arrive at the inescapable conclusion that your application fail for lack of reasonable prospects of success. No other court would come to a different conclusion on your application for leave to appeal‚” said judge Solly Sithole.
Manqele‚ 26‚ was found guilty of murdering Habedi‚ 37‚ in December and sentenced to 12 years behind bars in March.
She claimed that she had acted in self-defence when she stabbed Habedi in the chest after the couple fought‚ but the court said that she had overstepped the bounds of self-defence and found her guilty.
Applying for leave to appeal‚ defence advocate Norman Makhubela argued that the court erred in its findings that she had exceeded the limits of self-defence and that she had acted with premeditation.
Makhubela said that Manqele was not aware that she had acted unlawfully when she stabbed Habedi and that her response was her only way to escape Habedi’s “attack” on her.
Makhubela also said that the court had overemphasised the seriousness of Manqele’s crime when it handed down sentence‚ saying she needed to be deterred from doing the same to future boyfriends and husbands.
“This finding is ill-conceived… no evidence that she was predisposed to violent conduct from the past.”
He added that a reasonable person would find the “excessive” sentence shocking.
He said the court was wrong to suggest that Manqele has an “itching” to remove her future partners from society.
But prosecutor Paul Schutte said that the court had not misdirected itself in convicting Manqele and that the sentence imposed was reasonable.
Covering her face with her signature scarf‚ Manqele was escorted into the court’s police cells after proceedings had wrapped up. – Tiso Black Star Group Digital
Judge rules that Flabba’s killer’s appeal has no ‘prospects of success’
This in the Johannesburg High Court‚ sitting at the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court‚ on Tuesday.
“I arrive at the inescapable conclusion that your application fail for lack of reasonable prospects of success. No other court would come to a different conclusion on your application for leave to appeal‚” said judge Solly Sithole.
Manqele‚ 26‚ was found guilty of murdering Habedi‚ 37‚ in December and sentenced to 12 years behind bars in March.
She claimed that she had acted in self-defence when she stabbed Habedi in the chest after the couple fought‚ but the court said that she had overstepped the bounds of self-defence and found her guilty.
Applying for leave to appeal‚ defence advocate Norman Makhubela argued that the court erred in its findings that she had exceeded the limits of self-defence and that she had acted with premeditation.
Makhubela said that Manqele was not aware that she had acted unlawfully when she stabbed Habedi and that her response was her only way to escape Habedi’s “attack” on her.
Makhubela also said that the court had overemphasised the seriousness of Manqele’s crime when it handed down sentence‚ saying she needed to be deterred from doing the same to future boyfriends and husbands.
“This finding is ill-conceived… no evidence that she was predisposed to violent conduct from the past.”
He added that a reasonable person would find the “excessive” sentence shocking.
He said the court was wrong to suggest that Manqele has an “itching” to remove her future partners from society.
But prosecutor Paul Schutte said that the court had not misdirected itself in convicting Manqele and that the sentence imposed was reasonable.
Covering her face with her signature scarf‚ Manqele was escorted into the court’s police cells after proceedings had wrapped up. – Tiso Black Star Group Digital
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