Judge gives teenager suspended sentence: “Think before you act”

19-year-old XV who had reportedly robbed a student of his mobile phone was given a 12-month prison sentence which is in accordance with the demand of the prosecution. The defendant was also given a 3-year probation period. Judge Robert Praag added one condition to the suspended prison sentence and that is that the defendant must return to school on Monday.

Given the fact that the defendant has also been locked up in jail for the same number of months as the suspended prison sentence, he was released from jail after the verdict had been announced on February 14.

The judge told the defendant that he had acted as judge and jury when he held the victim whom a friend had accused of phone theft. The defendant’s friend then took the victim’s mobile phone. “I am certain that if he had told you to jump in a gutter, you would not have done it,” the judge told XV who is still enrolled at a local school. “Think before you act. You are still young. Hopefully this experience has taught you a wise lesson on how to act,” the judge told the defendant who had asked the court to return home on Valentine’s Day. Reports indicate that the victim was a student from the Technical School located along the Passiebloemstraat.

He was waiting for a bus when two unknown males approached him. One of them asked him if he had assaulted his friend. The victim was then grabbed by the collar before being robbed of his mobile phone. After the robbery, the victim asked a teacher for help. The teacher then caught both suspects.