The Senior Resident Magistrate’s court in Dedza on Tuesday sentenced 33-year-old Moses Lewo to 7 years imprisonment with hard labour for hitting a police officer with a stone.
According to Dedza Deputy Police Spokesperson Cassim Manda, Lewo was convicted on his own plea of guilty on the offence of acts intended to cause grievous harm contrary to Section 235 (b) of the Penal Code.
The court, through State Prosecutor Inspector John Chigundu, heard that Moses Lewo on December 3, 2019 at Mthambanji in Dedza district, with intent to disfigure Sub Inspector Khesi, hit the officer with a stone on the fore-head.
Chigundu further said that Sub Inspector Khesi fainted on spot and was referred to Kamuzu Central Hospital where he underwent a neurological surgery.
Prosecutor Chigundu appealed to the court to slap the convict with a stiffer sentence.
In mitigation, Lewo asked the court for leniency, saying he has a family obligation and also got loan from village savings group (Bank Mkhonde), hence custodial sentence will retard the process of returning money.
Passing judgement, Senior Resident Magistrate Clemence Chamwenda suppressed the family obligations of Lewo in mitigation, saying that he was fully aware of his family obligations when he was committing the offence.
The Magistrate further said the court takes judicial notice that cases of attacking police officers while on duty are rampant in Dedza.
“If we allow people to injure police officers in course of their duties in the society, we may promote lawlessness in our society which is bad for the promotion of rule of law,” lamented Magistrate Chamwenda.
He added that Lewo deserved an immediate custodial sentence that will serve as a lesson to him and deter would-be-offenders too.
The court therefore sentenced Lewo to 7 years imprisonment with hard Labour.
Lewo hails from Chatewa Village, Traditional Authority Kachindamoto in Dedza.
