Africa-Press – South-Africa. The teenager who shot and killed 16-year-old Joshua Edwards was reckless, if not grossly negligent, and showed no remorse for his actions.
This was part of the State’s closing arguments in the sentencing proceedings of the accused, who cannot be named because he was a minor at the time of the crime.
The teenager, who will be turning 19 this year, appeared in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on Friday.
In October last year, the teenager was found guilty of culpable homicide, unlawful possession of ammunition and unlawful possession of a firearm.
No remorse and gross negligence
The State has asked the court to impose a partially suspended custodial sentence, meaning that he would spend time incarcerated.
State prosecutor advocate Annalie Coetzee based this submission on the severity of the crimes committed, the accused’s behaviour and taking the Child Justice Act into account.
A similar sentence was also imposed by a probation officer who found that the accused had no remorse, and instead of taking responsibility for his actions, he continued to apportion blame to the deceased.
Coetzee said:
In addition, the probation officer, in her report noted that the teenager, despite being convicted, still did not really appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct.
The State repeated evidence that the teenager had issues with authority and a history of getting into trouble at school, which led him to be expelled twice.
On the argument of whether his actions constituted gross negligence, Coetzee took it one step further.
Looking at the facts and circumstances of the case, Coetzee said that there can be no other finding than that the teenager’s conduct went beyond mere negligence and, in fact constituted recklessness, or at the very least gross negligence.
Given his history of breaking the rules and not bending to authority, the State argued that correctional supervision would not work.
Non-custodial sentence
Piet du Plessis, the teenager’s attorney, argued that a non-custodial sentence would be appropriate.
This was based on a report compiled by their own probation officer.
It was argued that a proper sentence can be constructed involving correctional supervision to serve as both retribution and punishment.
Throughout his arguments, Du Plessis reiterated that the teenager should not be punished in the normal context of a youthful adult, but as a child in terms of the Child Justice Act.
He said the act made it clear that imprisonment should only be imposed as a measure of last resort and only for the shortest appropriate period of time.
Du Plessis said direct imprisonment in the circumstances of the case would simply destroy a further life and would be to the detriment of the public.
He said that based on the facts, a finding of gross negligence should not be made.
Crime
Edwards was visiting the accused at his parents’ house on 5 January 2021 where they played with a shotgun in his room.
The teenager had had the shotgun and another revolver in his room for a prolonged period of time.
The teenager ended up shooting Edwards in the torso. He died at the scene.
News24 previously reported that Magistrate Adriaan Bekker acquitted the teenager of the murder charge, finding that no case had been made out for a conviction of murder on the basis of dolus eventualis, which establishes legal intention where an accused person should have objectively foreseen his conduct would cause the death of another but proceeded with the action regardless.
Instead, the teenager was found guilty of culpable homicide, with Bekker noting a serious degree of recklessness.
He will be sentenced on 7 September.
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