15 years for fatal stabbing
A CHATSWORTH man who claimed he stabbed his friend in self defence, for allegedly poking his father in the face and asking him for money, has been jailed for 15 years.
“You are a pathological liar. Your statement to the police and your evidence in court are contradicted,” Durban Regional Court magistrate Anand Maharaj told Dinesh Naidoo.
Naidoo, 23, had stabbed 18year-old Wayne Mudaly outside a tavern in Road 740, Chatsworth in June.
The Meadowlands matric pupil was left lying on the pavement before a passerby found him. He was taken to RK Khan Hospital where he died hours later.
Maharaj found that all the defence witnesses, including members of Naidoo’s family, were unsatisfactory.
“The witnesses’ attempts to protect/shield the accused actually implicates him (the accused) even more.”
He also found that Naidoo had tried to get rid of the knife by giving it to a friend.
In mitigation of sentence, legal aid attorney Thobile Sigcua pleaded with the court to impose a sentence tinged with a measure of mercy.
Sigcua told the court that Naidoo and Wayne had been friends and that Naidoo did not intend to kill him. He had acted on the “spur of the moment”.
He also told the court that Naidoo, who attended school until Grade 10, was a first-time offender and was the breadwinner in his family.
Called to testify in aggravation of sentence, Wayne’s mother, Roshnee Mudaly, described her son as kind, loving, humble and caring.
“He was light-hearted and a very jovial person, always cracking jokes. That smile on his face will always be remembered.”
She said that he was the youngest of three sons and on the brink of starting his life.
“That Saturday when he was ripped away from me a part of me died with him. Losing a child is unimaginable, the pain is disconcerting and will last forever,” she said. “I have just come to grips with the loss of my husband six years ago due to cancer. Wayne filled that gap and emptiness… he was the apple of my eye.”
Mudaly told the court that on the day of the murder she had dropped off Wayne and his friends at Milky Lane.
“God knows how and why he landed in (Road) 740, as this is the first time I heard of him being there.”
She said she wished she could have taken her son’s place.
Naidoo’s actions were callous, she added.
“The accused was full of rage and wanted revenge for whatever reason. The accused said that Wayne and him struggled with a fight and that Wayne choked him, I don’t believe this, as I said Wayne could not fight.”
She also told the court that Naidoo’s family was known to hers.
“Yet the accused and his family did not have the decency to notify us (of the stabbing). I only found out after a policeman contacted my nephew.”
Mudaly asked the court to impose the maximum sentence so she could get closure.
Maharaj said one could see and feel Mudaly’s pain.
He said he hoped the sentence would deter like-minded individuals.
“There has been an increase of (stabbing) incidents in areas like Chatsworth, Phoenix, Newlands and Wentworth,” he said. “There is something wrong happening in these societies.”
The constitution provided for everyone to have the right to life and to be free from all forms of violence, Maharaj said.
“The wilful taking of human life must be severely punished.”
He described the killing as senseless.
“From the letter handed to the court from school, it shows that Wayne had potential to achieve something with his life.”
Prosecutor Kuveshni Pillay said Naidoo had not shown any remorse.
“The only reason he tendered an apology today is to lessen the sentence,” she said. “He knew what he was doing and he had a choice of walking away.”
Naidoo’s family cried as he walked down to the grille.