A judge says a former cop was trained to protect the public, yet denied his child a mother, when he killed her.
|||Former police constable Jomo Dube, who was jailed for life on Friday for the murder of his girlfriend, wept as he said goodbye to relatives in the Durban High Court.
After sentence was handed down, a tearful Dube looked towards the public gallery, shrugged his shoulders and said goodbye.
Dube was convicted of the murder of Zodwa Shongwe in December.
According to the indictment, Dube and Shongwe had a tumultuous relationship. He assaulted her verbally and physically. He also threatened to kill her and had told his relatives this.
Dube went to Shongwe’s Kenville home in 2009, and while their two-year-old son was sleeping, shot her several times with his service pistol. He then gave himself up and was fired from the police.
Handing down sentence, Acting Judge Vusi Khuzwayo said Dube had been trained to protect the public but instead had callously taken the life of his child’s mother.
“You are a trained and qualified officer who knows how to inflict a non-fatal blow if you did not want her dead. But instead you committed a despicable deed and showed a total disregard for her life.
“You denied your son the comfort, support and love of his mother. You showed no compassion, caring to the deceased or any remorse for what you did to her. After you shot her, you left her to bleed to death while your child lay sleeping in the room. You did not attempt to get her medical attention even though you had access to a vehicle and your relatives were close by.
“There are no circumstances placed before this court other than the mitigating factors argued by your attorney. Your attorney said you were a first offender, but this is not a substantial or compelling factor.” - The Mercury