By SYLVIA MWEETWA and MAYA NTANDA –
A MAN in Chisamba who demonstrated his savagery by trampling on a baby to death and setting another ablaze has earned himself double punishment in form of life imprisonment and a death sentence.
The 35-year-old Lawson Simemba brutally killed the two babies in October last year.
Simemba was sentenced to death for the murder of his brother-in-law’s child Gift Mukosha, aged two, who he repeatedly stepped on and viciously threw to the ground.
He was also given a life sentence for the murder of his stepson Gift Chibangwa, also aged two, who he set ablaze while in his sleep.
During trial the State summoned seven witnesses, among them two girls aged seven and 10 years, who narrated before Kabwe High Court judge Elita Mwikisa how Simemba threw one of the babies to the ground and repeatedly stepped on it.
The witness informed the court that on the fateful day, she was carrying the deceased boy on her back when she met Simemba who grabbed her by the neck before turning the heat on the baby.
The witness said Simemba threw the baby in the air and slammed it on the ground. He then hit the toddler with a hoe handle and stepped on it until its intestines came out.
Another witness, Peter Mutapa, 70, narrated that he saw Simemba set a house where another child was sleeping ablaze.
Mr Mutapa said he also saw the father of the baby who had earlier been killed carrying the toddler with protruding intestines.
“I was at home digging a water well when I saw children crying saying the accused had killed Kelvin Mukosha’s child,” he said.
At the close of the case, the court found Simemba with a case to answer and put him on his defence.
Simemba explained to the court that he ‘slapped’ one of the deceased babies because it insulted him while in the other case, he said he did know that the house which he set ablaze had a child in it.
In passing the sentence, Ms Justice Mwikisa said the issue of provocation did not hold and questioned how a two-year-old baby could insult Simemba and lead to such physical reaction.
Ms Justice Mwikisa, who described the action as inhumane, said it was clear that Simemba aimed to kill the two children because he had differences with his wife.
Earlier, Simemba, through his lawyer from the Legal Aid Board Bridget Pizo, asked for lenience.
She said her client had regretted his actions which resulted from the marital differences he had with his wife.
Meanwhile, a 36-year-old man of Solwezi has been sentenced to 12 years imprisonment with hard labour for causing the death of his 75-year-old grandfather during a drinking spree.
Kitwe High Court Judge Judy Mulongoti sent to jail Lukomba Mumbananga after finding him guilty of manslaughter  for causing the death of Beniko Lukomba on June 11, 2012.
Mumbananga was earlier charged with murder.
His cousin Binwewll Musanka, 35, had testified that on the material day, around 18:00 hours, he was drinking beer in the company of the accused, the deceased and four others.
Mr Munsaka told the court that he later retired to bed and around 04:00 hours, he heard someone calling him that Mumbananga was beating his grandfather.
When he went to check, he found Mumbananga kicking Mr Lukomba in the ribs and when he asked him why he was doing that, the accused responded that his grandfather had insulted him for refusing to give him beer.
Mr Munsaka told the court that later he noticed that his grandfather, who had become unconscious, had burns on the body and died afterwards around 11:00 hours.
In delivering judgment, Ms Justice Mulongoti, sitting in Solwezi, found Mumbananga guilty of a lesser charge of manslaughter.