Man jailed 20 years for handing friend knife used to kill teen
A Zimbabwean man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for supplying a knife used by his friend to kill a teenager during a dispute over music. The High Court ruled that providing the weapon made him equally liable for the murder.
Why it matters
The ruling sets a legal precedent regarding accomplice liability in violent crimes, emphasizing that supplying a weapon is as culpable as committing the act.
A Midlands man who handed his friend a knife during a fight over music at a bar has been jailed for 20 years after the High Court convicted him of murder, ruling that he was equally liable for the killing despite not delivering the fatal stabs.
Timothy Mathonsi was convicted of murdering 18-year-old Simon Dube, who was stabbed to death at Gombe Bar in Wozoli Business Centre, Silobela, on August 16, 2018, following a dispute with Handsome Ngwenya over music playing at the drinking spot.
High Court judge Justice Munamato Mutevedzi ruled that Mathonsi actively participated in the murder by supplying the weapon used in the attack, dismissing his defence that he was merely a bystander.
“An individual who supplies a lethal weapon during an ongoing assault must be treated with equal moral and legal blameworthiness as the person who ultimately inflicts the fatal blow,” the judge said.
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