THE STATE

versus

GAVEN CHIFODYA

HIGH COURT OF ZIMBABWE

CHITAPI J

HARARE, 8 March 2018

Criminal Review

            CHITAPI J: The accused appeared before the Provincial Magistrate, Mbare Magistrate Court on 24 November, 2016. He was charged with the offence of culpable homicide as defined in s 49 (a) (1) of the Criminal Law (Codification & Reform Act), [Chapter 9.23]. It was alleged against him that on 9 October 2016 around 1800hours and along High Glen Road, Harare, the accused negligently drove his Toyota Lexus motor vehicle registration no. ACU 9930. Due to the accused’s negligence, he knocked down two pedestrians who died as a result of injuries which they sustained. The accused pleaded guilty to the charge. He was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment with 8 months suspended for 5 years on condition that he is not within that period convicted of an offence involving negligently causing the death of another human being for which upon conviction he is sentenced to imprisonment without the option of a fine. The remaining 10 months were suspended on condition that the accused performed community service for 350hours.

            The proceedings in this matter offends one’s sense of justice and clearly fail the test of real and substantial justice. I have seen it fit to review the proceedings in the form of preparing a judgment which hopefully should act as a reference to the magistrate concerned in particular and generally to other magistrates who may in the course of their judicial duties come across a comparable case. I proceed to set out a summary of the agreed facts as they appear from a reading of the state outline whose contents the accused agreed to.

            The accused is a mature adult aged 47 years old and holds a class 4 and 5 driver’s licence. On the day in question he is said to have been driving his Toyota Lexus motor vehicle along High Glen Road due east at high speed. As he sped, he lost control of the vehicle, veered off the road to