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- A KZN policeman joined the elite National Intervention Unit wI will spend 33 years in prison after committing a double murder.
- After an argument at a wedding, he shot and killed two men and wounded others.
- The officer said he acted in self-defense, an argument the court did not accept.
A police officer who was attached to the elite National Intervention Unit (NIU) was sentenced to 33 years in prison for committing a double murder at a wedding, the National Fiscal Authority (NPA) said on Thursday.
Sheriff Lindani Liberty Ngobese, 34, was sentenced in the Mtubatuba Magistrates Court for murders and attempted murders he committed in December 2018 in Mnqobokazi, Hluhluwe, KwaZulu-Natal.
At the time, Ngobese was a member of the NIU in Durban.
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NPA spokeswoman Natasha Kara said Ngobese attended a wedding on a farm in Hluhluwe when an argument broke out between him and a group of men. He drew his service pistol and fired.
“Two of them were injured and two others died. Ngobese turned himself in at the Hluhluwe police station.”
Kara said regional court prosecutor Thabsile Ncanana presented the testimonies of two victims, eyewitnesses and police officers who attended the crime scene. Ngobese’s version to the court was that he had acted in self-defense.
“To further strengthen the State’s case, Ncanana delivered impact statements to the victims provided by the court preparation officer, Mandisa Sikakane, and compiled by the victims and the family of the deceased.”
The Director of the KwaZulu-Natal Public Prosecutor’s Office, Defender Elaine Zungu, said: “The violent behavior displayed by the accused was unjustified and unnecessary. Furthermore, society seeks safety and protection from the police officers. Instead, the accused was responsible for the loss of innocent lives. “
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