agost so mwesa vs republic 1986 tzca 68 25 june 1986

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF TANZANIA AT MWANZA CORAM; MUSTAF„ J. A. ; MAKAME, J. A. And KISANOA. J. A. CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 19 OF 1986 AGOST S/0 MtfESA. . . . . . . . . . APPELLANT VERSUS THE' REPUBLIC. . . . . . . . . . . RESPONDENT (Appeal f rom the co n v ictio n of the High Court o f Tanzania at Mwanza) (Munyera, J . ) dated the 26th day o f November, 1985 in Criminal Sessions Case No, 186 o f 1985 JUDGMENT OF THE COURT MUSTAFA. J. A. ; This is an appeal against sentence. The appellant pleaded g u i l t y to a charge o f manslaughter and was duly convicted and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment. The appellant was a very young man. There is no evidence on record o f his age, but i t is c le a r that he would not be more than about 15 years o f age. On the m aterial day he had a s lig h t a lt e r c a t i o n with the deceased, a c h ild o f about 8 years o ld and struck the deceased a blow on the abdomen with his f i s t . The deceased f e l l dowfi and died s h o r tly t h e r e a ft e r . According to the post mortem report death was due to severe in te rn a l haemorrhage due to a ruptured spleen. There is unfortunately no evidence whether the spleen was enlarged or diseased. I t is c le a r that i t was comparatively a minor assault which u nfortunately re s u lte d in death. The appellant was a f i r s t o ffe n d e r and very young„ The judge merely sentenced the appellant to 15 years imprisonment without g iv in g any reasons as to why such an obviou sly excessive sentence was imposed on such a young man fo a comparatively minor assault. The appellant has already been in prison f o r 3 years now* We think that ju s t ic e w i l l be served i f we reduce the term o f imprisonment xo such term as w i l l re su lt in his immediate r e le a s e . We order.. DATED at XVANZA th is 25th day o f June, 1986 A. MUSTAFA JUSTICE OF APPEAL L. M. MAKAME JUSTICE OF APPEAL R. H, KISANGA JUSTICE OF APEEAL ---- I c e r t i f y that th is is a true copy o f the o r i g i n a l . \ DEPUTY REGISTRAR.