By PERPETUAL SICHIKWENKWE –
THE Lusaka High Court has ordered the two juveniles convicted of murdering a Ng’ombe taxi driver, Mathews Chipli, to be sent to Katombora Reformatory School.
Meanwhile, Lusaka High Court Judge Mugeni Mulenga is disappointed with the parents of the two juveniles for their negligence, saying if they had taken better care of the two boys, the murder could have been avoided.
Mr Chipili, 20, was found dead with his facial skin peeled off, lefteye forked out and throat cut in December 2012 and had his body dumped in an unfinished structure in Roma Township.
Ms Justice Mulenga about two months ago convicted the juveniles of aggravated robbery and murder of Mr Chipili but reserved their sentencing to yesterday.
Passing the sentence yesterday, Ms Justice Mulenga said she was taking into consideration the age of the boys who were both below 18 when they committed the offences.
She said the juveniles needed a second chance to reform and contribute to the development of the country.
Ms Justice Mulenga, however, said the offence the juveniles committed was serious and, as such, she was sending them to a reformatory school hoping that they would reflect on their lives.
She also hoped that the juveniles would be able to go back to school since they had learned their lesson in prison from the time they were arrested about two years ago.
Ms justice Mulenga said even as she was sending the juveniles to a reformatory, she was disappointed with their parents for their failure to take care of them as during trial, the court heard how the children were sometimes left alone without care from parents.
Ms Justice Mulenga said that if it was not for the negligence of the two juveniles’ parents, the offences they committed could have been avoided.
In mitigation through their defence lawyers, State Counsel Sebastian Zulu and Osborn Ngoma,  said the juveniles pleaded with the court to be lenient with them by not giving them a custodial sentence so that they could have a second chance in life.
The juveniles said they were remorseful of their wrong-doing and promised never to engage in similar activities in future.
A probation officer from social welfare Daniel Banda, who presented the juveniles’ reports to the court, recommended that they be sent to a reformatory school.
In an interview after the sentence, Mr Chipili’s father Pearson said he was not happy with the outcome of the sentence because he felt the juveniles should have served a custodial sentence as they were capable of killing other people.