A man claiming to be a secondary school student and convicted of attacking a disc jockey with an empty bottle on Wednesday appealed to a local magistrate to set him free so that he could go back to school.
Trymore Mahlangu (18) was arrested on October 17 and brought to court the following day after assaulting Michael Amudu, leaving him with a cut on his lower lip.
He claimed that he was a Form II student at Amaveni High School after he was found guilty of causing grievous bodily harm by local magistrate Tendai Mahwe on Wednesday.
“I have been in custody for a long time and I am missing out on school,” Mahlangu pleaded. “I, therefore, beg the courts to release me so that I can go and attend classes.”
Mahwe said the accused faced a possible mandatory two-year sentence and could only be spared jail if he was below 18.
Judgment would be passed on November 14 after the court establishes his exact age.
“You seem to be taking this matter lightly, but you face a possible mandatory two years in prison,” the magistrate said.
“You can only escape that if you are below the age of 18 and just by looking at you I am not convinced that you are below 18.
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“Therefore, you will be taken to a dentist who will ascertain your age before you are sentenced.”
Although court records indicated that Mahlangu was 18, he maintained that he was born in 1994.
His identity documents could not be found, prompting the magistrate to involve a dentist in investigations. Mahlangu also told the court that he was married after one of the students at the school eloped to him just before his arrest, drawing laughter from the gallery.
