Six-year sentence for attacking magistrate, cop
Sharon Mathala | Tuesday February 6, 2024 08:23
Mogorosi Korae was found guilty and convicted on two accounts. “The accused appeared before this court as an aggressive individual who thrives on intimidating people.
During his appearance before this court, he replicated his conduct of walking out of the courtroom when the court was in session. Unfortunately, the events before Her Worship Resheng led to her being assaulted,” said the magistrate as he began to read out his sentence.
The background of the matter is that on May 17, 2022, Korae appeared before the Molepolole Magistrate’s Court on charges of threaten-to-kill. On that day, Korae found that he was appearing before a different magistrate. He had protested that he had made a bail application before another magistrate and said he wished his matter would continue before the same magistrate.
When the magistrate turned down his plea, he became angry, hurled insults at the magistrate, and assaulted her. During the trial, the state presented its case, stating that after hurling insults at the magistrate, Korae proceeded to assault her. Sensing an imminent attack, the magistrate ran out of the courtroom, and the accused suddenly jumped from the dock to the bench and chased after her.
The police tried to restrain him, but he fought them off and eventually tripped the magistrate from behind. She fell on her back, whereupon Korae descended on her and proceeded to assault her. He then tried to strangle her as she kept trying to ward him off, but he overpowered her until eventually more officers intervened. 'Assaulting a judicial officer is the highest form of disrespect to the integrity and sanctity of the judicial office.
The accused displayed his pompous nature throughout his trial and he did not show any remorse for his actions.
Courtrooms must be viewed as safer spaces and should not be turned into shebeens whereby one can wake up from his drunk-induced sleep and start insulting or fighting other patrons. The accused disrupted the order of the court on the fateful day because he even attacked a member of the public who was restraining him during his attack on the judicial officer,” the magistrate remarked. In the end, he was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment for strangling the magistrate and five years for assaulting a police officer. The sentences will run concurrently.