[1996] UGHC 39
The court accepted the accused's plea of guilty to manslaughter, noting that the accused was provoked by the deceased's admission of killing his son and others. The accused is a first offender with no previous record and had spent about two years in custody prior to sentencing. The court balanced the seriousness of...
Source-derived case information.
- Citation
- [1996] UGHC 39
- Parties
- Respondent: Uganda; Defendant: Ocitti Challes
- Court
- High Court of Uganda
- Jurisdiction
- Uganda
- Case Number
- Criminal Session Case 431 of 1995
- Procedural Posture
- Criminal Session Case / Sentencing
- Outcome
- convicted on plea of guilty to manslaughter; sentenced to imprisonment
- Judges
- GM OKELLO, J
- Legal Topics
- Manslaughter, Sentencing Principles, Provocation, Plea Bargaining
- Source Language
- en
Source-derived case record
Summary, issues, holding and outcome
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Parties
Uganda
Respondent
Ocitti Challes
Defendant
Procedural Posture
Criminal Session Case / Sentencing
Legal Issues
- 1 Whether the accused's plea of guilty to manslaughter was properly accepted and entered.
- 2 What is the appropriate sentence for the offence of manslaughter in the circumstances of this case.
Ratio Decidendi
The court accepted the accused's plea of guilty to manslaughter, noting that the accused was provoked by the deceased's admission of killing his son and others. The accused is a first offender with no previous record and had spent about two years in custody prior to sentencing. The court balanced the seriousness of the offence—stabbing his own mother in the presence of elders—with the mitigating factors of provocation and time already served. The court exercised its discretion under section 182 of the Penal Code Act to impose a sentence less than the maximum, sentencing the accused to two and a half years imprisonment.
Court Disposition
convicted on plea of guilty to manslaughter; sentenced to imprisonment
Orders
- The accused is sentenced to two and a half years imprisonment.
Full Case Text
Judgment text and source record
15 paragraphs
$\frac{1}{2}$
## THE REPUBLIC OF UGANDA
## IN THE HIGH COURT OF UGANDA AT SESSION HOLDEN AT GULU
CRIMINAL SESSION CASE NO. 431 OF 1995
$\bullet\bullet\bullet\bullet\bullet\bullet\bullet\bullet\bullet\bullet\bullet\bullet\bullet\bullet\bullet\bullet\bullet\bullet\bullet$ **UGANDA** $-versus-$
OCITTI CHALLES ...................................
## BEFORE: THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE G. M. OKELLO
## SENTENCE
The accused was indicted on a charge of murder contrary to section 183 of the Penal Code Act. But on arraignment he offered a plea of guilty to manslaughter a minor and cognate of offence to murder. The Resident Senior State Attorney accepted that offer of plea and the accused was convicted on his own plea of guilty of manslaughter contrary to section 182 of the Penal Code Act.
The narrated facts revealed that the deceased was the natural mother of the accused. According to the facts, the clan elders in the accused's village had on the fateful day met to consider allegations brought against the deceased. It was alledged that the deceased had poisoned somebody's Pig and had killed some people who included the accused's son using witchcraft. At the meeting of the clders which was also attended by the accused, the deceased admitted to have killed the pig and the people who included the accused's own son. She went further to state that the poison she used for killing was given to her by somebody called Otya. That admission by his mother appeared to have provoked the accused who rushed and stabbed the deceased with a knife. The deceased died shortly from the stab wound.
Following that incident the decused was arrested and eventually charged with the murder of his mother. No postmartum examination was carried out on the body of the deceased. No reason was given for failure.
The phylosophy of sentence is clear. That sentence must not only befit the offence but also the offender. Manslaughter of which the accused was convicted carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. Court however, has discretion to impose lesser sentence to fit the offender.
The record indicated that the offender in this case is a first offender. He had no previous record. He has been in custody from 1st November 1993 to date. That makes a period of about two years. But the above must be contrasted with the manner the offence was committed. The accused stabbed his own mother in the presence of the elders of the village apparently because his mother admitted killing other people who included the accused's own son. This no doubt offered to the accused some provocation. But he should have controlled his temper. Considering all the circumstances of the case and the period the accused took in custody before his trial, I sentence him to $2\frac{1}{2}$ years imprisonment.
G. M. OKELLO JULGE
17th July 1996