A MAN convicted of culpable homicide for fatally stabbing his father was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment at the Keetmanshoop Regional Court on Tuesday.
Marius Jakobus Both (23) was initially charged with murder, and pleaded not guilty at the start of his trial.
The court heard Both stabbed his father, Jacobus Isaacks (38), in the chest with a knife, causing his death.
Both was only 18 years old when he committed the offence.
The fatal incident took place on 28 February 2015 at Koës in the //Kharas region.
Both in his plea explanation told the court he accidentally stabbed his father when he pushed him back while holding a knife in his hand in an attempt to slap him in the face for a second time.
An argument between father and son started after Both’s younger sibling complained that her brother wanted to beat her up.
Regional magistrate Frans Anderson sentenced Both to 10 years’ imprisonment, of which three years are suspended.
The magistrate said the court believed the fatal stabbing could have been avoided if Both and his father had engaged in mature reasoning, but it was “clouded by the intake of alcohol”.
“The use of a knife preceded by alcohol intoxication stands out in this matter,” he said.
Anderson said no jail sentence would be consolation for Both’s mother and siblings, adding that Both himself would fall victim to self-blame and trauma, and would need psychological counselling.
“You’re a candidate for rehabilitation rather than retribution,” he said.
Anderson said the offence, however, warranted a direct prison term as the only competent punishment.
Also at the Keetmanshoop Regional Court on Tuesday, a local resident, Hisigiel Johannes, was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment for stabbing a doorman, Job Wells, to death with a knife at the YB Inn Club on 2 July 2016.
Johannes had pleaded guilty to a charge of murder.
Anderson said: “Human life is sacred, and no severe sentence will restore the dignity when human life is lost.”
He sentenced Johannes to 15 years’ imprisonment, of which five years are suspended.
The use of a knife to inflict fatal stab wounds, Anderson said, has reached critical proportions.
Johannes was a Grade 8 pupil when he committed the offence.
The court heard that Johannes attempted to force his way into the club without paying an entrance fee and stabbed the bouncer when he refused him entry.
“The accused was a minor when he killed the deceased, and it’s disturbing to note he was a Grade 8 pupil, intoxicated and tried to force his way into a liquor outlet,” Anderson said.
